A new multimillion-dollar ad campaign is being launched this week to change the hearts of undecided Californians to garner support for same-sex "marriage."
Beginning Thursday, television ads will try to "open hearts and minds" as it portrays a bride who, on her way to the altar to marry the groom, gets obstructed by cars, a broken heel, a tree, the flower girl and a grandma who trips the bride with her cane.
"What if you couldn't marry the person you love?" the 60-second TV spot reads at the end. "Every day, gay and lesbian couples are prevented from marrying. Support the freedom to marry."
The commercial is scheduled to air on Thursday in San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego and Palm Springs.
"We wanted to connect to the people of California on an emotional level, on a level they can identify with," said Seth Kilbourn, political and policy director of Equality California Institute, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. Equality California is the gay rights advocacy organization coordinating the campaign called "Let California Ring."
Conservatives hope Californians will see that the institution of marriage is beyond an emotional issue.
"The homosexual community continues to attempt to attract the emotions of society," said Ron Prentice, executive director of the California Family Council, which supports traditional marriage. "Our hope is that society will recognize that the meaning and purpose of marriage is more than an emotional argument."
The "homosexual lobby is dismissing the foundational purpose of marriage and what's best for children and society," he added, according to the Chronicle. "Children deserve both a mother and a father."
In addition to the TV ad, thousands of volunteers are expected to conduct house parties, knock on voters' doors, and give speeches to promote the push and help "spark a million conversations" about the freedom to wed.
Equality California executive director Geoff Kors says the long-term goal for the campaign is to have the majority of Californians support the freedom to marry, according to Sacramento Bee.
More specifically, the campaign is intended to move the state "over the tipping point," targeting people on the fence, added Kilbourn.
A poll last year by the Policy Institute California showed that California voters are almost evenly split on the issue of same-sex "marriage." Forty-eight percent oppose homosexual "marriage" while 46 percent expressed support. In 2000, over half (55 percent) of the voters were against it.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is expected to veto a measure in the next few days that would allow same-sex "marriage" in the state. The bill, AB43, was passed by the state senate last month, approving the replacement of the words "a man and a woman" with any "two persons" in California's marriage laws.
Schwarzenegger had vetoed a similar bill in 2005. Traditional marriage supporters have urged believers to call the governor's office to urge him to veto the latest bill.
Currently, Massachusetts is the only state where same-sex "marriage" is legal.
