One of the defendants' strategies is to divert attention from the real issues in the case by casting themselves, incredibly, as the victims of alleged persecution. Prop. 8 targeted gay people in order to strip them of a fundamental right. And yet the defendants have fixated on alleged incidents of harassment of Prop. 8 supporters during the campaign. In fact, they have even gone so far as to suggest that Prop. 8 passed in part because voters reacted negatively to alleged "violence" by Prop. 8 opponents. Given the damage inflicted on LGBT people by antigay stereotypes and bigotry, it is shameful that the defendants would engage in such obvious appeals to that very bigotry, but of course, such a strategy is on par with everything they have done throughout and since the campaign. While we are optimistic that the ninth circuit will reject such claims for the bogus antigay baiting they are, the public may in fact adopt this narrative as accurate, which would be dangerous and distressing.