American Foundation for Equal Rights

The Recorder: Boies Lands Verbal Punches on Ballot Measure Backer During Proposition 8 Trial

He didn’t say so, but you could tell David Boies was looking forward to this one.

Dr. Hak-Shing William Tam, an official proponent of Proposition 8, sat on the stand a few feet from Boies, of Boies, Schiller & Flexner. Tam had penned harsh anti-gay rhetoric during the campaign, claiming, for example, that gays are 12 times more likely to molest children.

Since Boies, who represents two same-sex couples in a federal challenge to Prop 8, called Tam as a witness Thursday, technically his questions were direct examination. But the feel and strategy was all cross.

Boies probed Tam about literature in which Tam said San Francisco is “under the rule” of homosexuals. Name them, Boies asked. Former supervisor Tom Ammiano, Tam replied.

“Is the mayor homosexual, according to you?” Boies shot back.

It was a question for which there was no clean answer. Had Tam answered yes, it would have made him look silly in light of Mayor Gavin Newsom’s well-known adventures with women. “No, I don’t think so actually,” Tam replied.

Read the rest of Dan Levine’s The Recorder article here.