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Pete Knight's Son Comes Out Against The Knight Initiative; Gay Son Of Right-Wing State Senator Shares Personal Story
San Francisco, CA --- October 14, 1999 --- Today, in an opinion-editorial in the Los Angeles Times, David Knight, the gay son of State Senator Pete Knight, spoke out against the unfair, intrusive, and divisive ballot measure being sponsored by his father. David Knight talks of his father’s rejection of him after he told him he was gay and that he had a life partner. Dave Knight refers to his father’s initiative as an attempt "to legislate discriminatory restrictions on a significant group of people that he has clearly rejected."
The Knight Initiative will appear on the March 7 ballot. It states: Only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California. The Knight Initiative threatens hospital visitation rights, inheritance rights and other equal rights and protections that any two people in a committed relationship deserve. It increases the rhetoric of hate and intolerance towards gay and lesbian Californians and their families. And it would inject the government into the most personal decisions -- who we spend our lives with.
"Once again, David Knight demonstrates what an American hero he truly is. At potentially great personal cost, he has spoken out against his father’s unfair attack on California’s families," said No on Knight Campaign Manager Mike Marshall. "The Knight Initiative is not, as Pete Knight and its backers claim, about defending marriage. It’s about attacking families. We need only look at the impact of Pete Knight’s beliefs on his own family to see what his initiative is truly about and what it would do to families across the state," added Marshall.
Text of David Knight opinion piece