William Tam

William "Bill" Tam Hak-Shing (, born 1955) is an American evangelical leader, a prominent proponent of Proposition 8, the constitutional ban on same-sex marriage in California, and a witness for Proposition 8's defense in Perry v. Schwarzenegger.
Biography
Tam is an immigrant from Hong Kong. He resides in the Sunset District of San Francisco, and leads the Traditional Family Coalition and the American Return to God Prayer Movement (ARGPM), an evangelical Chinese American movement. In a panel debate for Proposition 8, the constitutional ban on same-sex marriage in California for which he continuously campaigned for from January to May 2008, he forewarned, "Asian parents feel the government is taking away their right to teach their children what is right or wrong". He led the campaign to mobilize Chinese American voters in particular to vote for Proposition 8, which they did 50% for and 46% against. As the trial was about to begin, on August 8, he asked a judge to recuse him from testimony, citing personal harassment and vandalism from the campaign, and his fears for more as a result of the trial. His request was ultimately denied however, and it was suggested that the actual reason for his thwarted attempt to withdraw from the case was that his views would reflect adversely on the proponents of Prop 8.
Consequently, though Tam was one of five official sponsors for passage of Prop 8, he was used as a hostile witness by the plaintiffs. Tam's Chinese language campaign literature, including essays on the ARGPM website and a letter to the Chinese Christian community, were the focus of his testimony in Perry v. Schwarzenegger. These writings said, among other things, that "on agenda list is: legalize having sex with children," that homosexuals were 12 times more likely to molest children, and that if Prop 8 did not pass "one by one, other states would fall into Satan's hands." He defended these writings with the Bible instead of scientific studies. When pressed for sources he cited "the internet." The plaintiff used him to make the case that Proposition 8 was motivated by homophobia and animus.<ref name="nyt"/>

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