The reason Klansmen wore hoods back in the Jim Crow era had little to do with hiding their faces from those whom they were out to torment, as we might suppose today. African-Americans had virtually no legal standing as witnesses against them. The hoods were mainly meant to instill fear in their victims, but they also concealed the Klansmen’s identities from their white peers, most of whom supported segregation but did not countenance church bombings, lynchings and the Klan’s other terror tactics.

In a move that is shockingly reminiscent of Klansmen donning their white hoods, activists behind last year’s anti-gay Proposition 8 campaign are suing to overturn California campaign finance laws that require making public the names of donors to political causes. The objective of these professional hate-group organizers is to enable their donors to conceal their bigotry from colleagues and neighbors who don’t share their obsessive hatred of gays:

[Anti-gay activists] claimed that donors to Proposition 8, which banned same-sex marriage in California after one of the most heated campaigns in recent memory, have been the victim of threats and harassment because of their support for ending same-sex marriage was made public.

“This harassment is made possible because of California’s unconstitutional campaign finance disclosure rules as applied to ballot measure committees where even donors of as little as $100 must have their names, home addresses and employers listed on public documents,” Ron Prentice, head of the Protect Marriage Coalition, said in a statement.

Leaving aside the absurdity of folks who last year donated $40 million to force the repeal of the civil rights of millions of Californians whining now about “harassment,” it’s passing strange that people who say their opposition to gay civil rights is based on moral imperatives and even the Bible would tacitly admit, via this lawsuit, that their cause is so shameful that they must change the law so they can do their skullduggery in secret.

Anti-gay activists should take note that Klansmen today no longer hide their racism under bedsheets. They proudly call themselves “white separatists,” and some, like David Duke, even appear on television wearing business suits. It’s puzzling why homophobes don’t feel a similar sort of pride. If they’re certain God is on their side, why does it matter if their neighbors and colleagues shun them because of their beliefs?

On the other hand, maybe the unintentional admission of shame underlying this lawsuit can be taken as a hopeful sign that even they recognize that their bigotry is wrong.