Hey 89Prick and Col Fartbreath,
Perhaps you two assholes need to donate more to those catholic fuckwads, the KOC!
The Knights of Columbus, the U.S. Catholic fraternal organization known for its wide-ranging charitable work and parish fish fries, has been a significant contributor to political efforts opposing same-sex marriage across the country, according to a study commissioned by a coalition of Catholic groups that support same-sex marriage.
Since 2005, the Knights of Columbus has provided "$6.25 million directly to anti-marriage equality efforts" and has additionally provided about $9.6 million "for broader efforts ... to discriminate against gay or lesbian couples in the name of religious freedom," says the report, released Thursday.
Earlier this year, a coalition called Equally Blessed commissioned a study of the Knights' tax filings, annual statements and other public documents between 2005 and 2012. The result is a 37-page report, "The Strong Right Arm of the Bishops: The Knights of Columbus and Anti-Marriage Equality Funding."
Since 2005, several million dollars have gone from the Knights directly to organizations involved with state ballot initiatives on same-sex marriage, says the coalition, which is made up of Catholic groups Call To Action, DignityUSA, Fortunate Families, and New Ways Ministry.
The report also states that the Knights have yet to file their 2011 tax return because they asked for an extension of the April deadline, so the total sum for donations could be higher.
Catholics, spending your money on the the poor and needy!
The Knights' first public donations to efforts to oppose same-sex marriage noted in the report came in 2005, when it directed $100,000 through the Kansas City, Kan., archdiocese to a corporation supporting a Kansas state constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage, according to the group's tax filings and political donation records.
According to those records, the $100,000 accounted for over 74 percent of the total raised by the main group supporting the measure, which passed by a 70 percent margin.
The Knights' donations to groups opposing same-sex marriage totaled at least $2.28 million in 2008, according to an annual report attributed to the group's national leader, Carl Anderson.
Included in those donations were about $1.1 million in support of a California ballot measure known as Proposition 8 that outlawed same-sex marriage in the state after it had been allowed by the state's Supreme Court; and $515,000 to the National Organization for Marriage, the main political group supporting the proposition.
While Proposition 8 passed in 2008 by about 52 percent, it was ruled to violate the U.S. Constitution's right to due process in federal district court in 2010, a ruling a federal appeals court upheld in 2012. Other donations from the Knights that year went to efforts to oppose same-sex marriage in Connecticut ($275,000), Arizona ($100,000) and Florida ($200,000).
In 2009, the Knights again donated about $1.43 million to the National Organization for Marriage and donated $418,000 to the U.S. bishops' committee ad hoc committee, according to that year's annual report.
In 2010, the Knights donated almost $750,000 to groups fighting same-sex marriage measures, including a reported $722,150 to the U.S. bishops' ad hoc committee, according to tax filings.
In 2012, the group has given at least $100,000 to the Minnesota Catholic Conference's fund to fight a ballot measure in that state, which is also on the ballot this November. According to public records, the Knights' donations are the second largest to the fund after a $650,000 donation by the St. Paul and Minneapolis archdiocese.
According to public records, the Knights have also given at least $250,000 apiece to two organizations opposing same-sex marriage in Washington state and Maryland, where the matter is also on the ballot in November.
Classic catholic scumbags...
"Since the USCCB is part of the Catholic Church and does not have to report its charitable contributions, money given to the USCCB's anti-marriage equality efforts is essentially untraceable unless it shows up in specific state-level reporting requirements," the report states.
"This is especially important because it makes it difficult to ascertain how much the church has invested in influencing voters in Washington, Maryland, Maine and Minnesota, where marriage equality-related initiatives are on the ballot in November 2012," the report says.
One tax lawyer noted for his work on nonprofit tax law told NCR it is unclear whether the Knights' donations might affect their status as a tax-exempt organization. The Knights' national organization, which reported total assets of some $16.9 billion in 2010, is classified as a "fraternal beneficiary society" by the Internal Revenue Service.
