The following is a timeline of the progression and history of Fred Karger and his organization, Rights Equal Rights (formerly Californians Against Hate).
June 15, 2008:Â New York Times reports that Fred Karger forms Californians Against Hate to track all large contributions to Yes on Proposition 8.Â
June 23, 2008:Â Fred discovers that Broc Hiatt and Craig Cardon of Mesa, AZ donated $25,000 to Yes on Prop 8 through their Vineyard Group, LLC – the first significant Mormon contribution.
June 29, 2008: Mormon Church President Thomas S. Monson sends a letter to all Church leaders in California to be read to all congregations on Sunday, June 29, 2008. “We ask that you do all you can to support the proposed constitutional amendment by donating of your means and time to assure that marriage in California is legally defined as being between a man and a woman.”
July 2008:Â A huge spike begins in large California and out-of-state donations to the Yes on 8 campaign.
August 18, 2008:Â Fred presents proof of Mormon Church families giving millions of dollars to Yes on Prop 8 to Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Mark Schoofs of the Wall Street Journal.
September 20, 2008: Mark SchoofsÂ’ story runs in the Wall Street Journal about the massive Mormon Church involvement in Prop 8.
October 20, 2008: Fred publishes his first Huffington Post column on the Mormon involvement in Prop 8: “Mormon Power Grab: It’s Tearing Families Apart”.
November 5, 2008:Â The Mormon Church files its campaign report with the California Secretary of State that says it only spent $2078 to pass Prop 8.
November 13, 2008:Â Fred files a sworn complaint with CaliforniaÂ’s Fair Political Practices Commission claiming the Mormon Church donated far more in-kind contributions to Prop 8 that it reported.
November 14, 2008: Church spokesman Scott Trotter responds, states that the Mormon Church “has fully complied with the reporting requirements of the California Political Reform Act, and that claims that the Church had violated the Act and failed to report political expenditures made by the church are false.”
Don Eaton, the spokesman for the Mormon Oakland Temple, said in an interview with KGO-TV (ABC San Francisco) “The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints put zero money in this.”
November 21, 2008:Â The California Fair Political Practices Commission announces that it will begin a full investigation of FredÂ’s complaint on Mormon Church involvement in Prop 8.
November 29, 2008:Â New York Times Editorial in support of FPPC Investigation and Fred.
January 12, 2009: Fred’s column for the Huffington Post: “The Mormon PR Campaign on Prop 8… The Lawsuit.”
January 30, 2009:Â The Mormon Church amends its year-end filing for Prop 8 to show in-kind contributions totaling $190,000, contradicting all previous claims.
February 2, 2009: Fred publishes Huffington Post column: “Mormongate – The Church’s Cover-up of its Prop 8 Funding.”
February 11, 2009: Fred holds a press conference in Salt Lake City, Utah to launch Mormongate.com, a tip line and a boycott of Garff Automotive Group.
February 11, 2009:Â Fred meets with John Garff to begin boycott settlement talks.
February 11, 2009:Â Fred receives hundreds of official secret Mormon documents that show the Mormon ChurchÂ’s involvement in fighting gay marriage going all the way back to in Hawaii in 1995.
February 19, 2009: Fred’s column for the Huffington Post: “Mormongate: Public’s Help Sought.”
March 18, 2009: Fred files a supplemental complaint with the California Fair Political Practices Commission claiming further unreported Mormon Church involvement in Prop 8.
March 2009: Reed Cowan begins filming “8: The Mormon Proposition” in San Francisco and interviews Fred for his documentary.
April 21, 2009: Fred begins running ads in six New England states and announces it in a Huffington Post column: “The Mormons are Coming, the Mormons are Coming.”
May 29, 2009: The Washington Post reports on Fred’s advertising campaign in a front-page story: “The Mormons are Coming.”
June 25, 2009: Fred’s column for the Huffington Post: “Is the Mormon Church Hiding Its Funding of the National Organizations for Marriage?”
January 2010: Fred’s new banner ad campaign shadows Mitt Romney on his book tour urging people to “Call Mitt Romney” and ask him to use his influence to get the Mormon Church to stop all its anti-gay activities.
January 18, 2010: “8: The Mormon Proposition’ premieres at the Sundance Film Festival. It takes on the Church for all its anti-gay teachings and actions. In Reed Cowan’s highly acclaimed documentary, Fred is one of the featured subjects and talks about all the secret Mormon documents that he had been given.
January 21, 2010: Fred’s column for the Huffington Post urges Mitt Romney to “Stop the Mormon Church’s Nasty Campaign Against Gay Marriage”
September 27, 2010: Fred’s column for the Huffington Post “Mormon Church Tries to Resurrect Its Image, Spends Millions to Repair Prop 8 Damage.”
April 11, 2011: Fred declares his intention to run for President of the United States at a press conference at the Southern Republican Leadership Conference in New Orleans, LA.
June 11, 2011: The FPPC finds the Mormon Church guilty on 13 counts of election fraud from FredÂ’s November 2008 complaint.
August 10, 2011: Deseret News reports on a recent LA Times article that discussed Karger’s intent to challenge Romney to pressure the Mormon Church to change it’s stance on gay marriage.
December 21, 2011:Â Launches Top 10 Craziest Mormon Beliefs web site.
January 3, 2012: Fred’s column for the Huffington Post “How Involved is the Mormon Church in Huntsman vs. Romney?”
June 8, 2012:Â Fred appeals to Mormon Church President Thomas S. Monson to meet and work toward common ground on LGBT issues.