Sex, Sex, Sex: Got your attention? Well, sex is coming your way on the wings of the November ballot.

Married sex is normally a boring subject, but on November 4 it’s one of the hottest issues, to those who have an intense fear of it.

Love and marriage go together like a horse and carriage, like the song says. But some churches that consider themselves upholders of the moral high ground are heatedly pushing Prop. 8, which would make gay marriage unconstitutional in California.

What next, one Santa Barbara Mormon woman asked me, “Sex with animals?” So goes the level of political discourse in California. Surprisingly, perhaps, in supposedly liberal Santa Barbara, a majority of church congregations support Prop. 8, according to Mark Asman, pastor at Trinity Episcopal, who’s opposed to the measure. As I’ve said, intolerance reaches its height on Sunday mornings. (Maybe they’re just animal rights activists.)

A group of local pastors and rabbis opposed to Prop. 8 plan a press conference today, Thursday, October 16, at noon at Trinity Episcopal.

Some backers of Prop. 8 argue that homosexuality is a chosen “lifestyle,” conveniently ignoring scientific evidence to the contrary. They claim to be “protecting” marriage, but their arguments often reveal basic homophobia and fear. Live and let live is not in their gospel.

Nor in the gospel of some Prop. 8 opponents: The Santa Barbara woman quoted above added, “This is so emotionally charged, especially when every morning we find that our ‘Yes on 8’ signs — not just mine, my neighbors’ and friends’ too — have been stolen in the night again at the hands of those who proclaim to be on the side of tolerance.”

Speaking of intolerance, a gay Catholic priest in Fresno was ousted as pastor and faces possible defrocking for delivering a sermon opposing Prop. 8. The church seems to view homosexuality as something sent from the devil.

Poli-Tricks: Meanwhile, the question is whether Tony Strickland’s big-bucks, big-sleazy media campaign can beat Santa Barbara’s Hannah-Beth Jackson for the open 19th District State Senate seat. Venturan Strickland masquerades as an environmentalist, but it turns out that he voted against a slew of energy conservation bills while in the Assembly. Jackson is pushing environmental issues.

Scofflaws: It’s hard to say which is the biggest group of lawbreakers: the cell-phone-while-driving folks, or the ones blasting the neighbors with gas-powered dirt blowers. The illegal blowers are very good at blowing dirt from one property to the next. On the phone front, a friend noticed a driver apparently holding a conversation with a cell phone in her lap, figuring, I guess, that the cops wouldn’t notice.

On the Market: Chris (Back to the Future) Lloyd has taken his main Montecito manse ($11.3 mil) off the market for remodeling but listed his gated three-fireplace smaller pad for $3.6 mil, according to the L.A. Times.

B&B Buzz: Santa Barbara’s Simpson House Inn has long been lauded as the town’s best B&B — best in the West by most surveys — but now Coastal Living mag has rated Santa Barbara one of its top 10 bed-and-breakfast towns. It also mentions the more affordable West Beach Eagle Inn.

Hire-a-Whistleblower: Most public agencies are loathe to hire a known whistleblower. Who wants to take on a guy who might expose your no-nos? But Santa Barbara County’s Mosquito and Vector Management District has hired Brian Passaro, fired by the Coachella Valley mosquito-fighting district after he publicly told of alleged misconduct by the general manager, who then resigned under pressure. S.B. folks are paying Passaro $82,000 a year to be general manager, recognizing not only his talent but ethics.

Stolen From a Church: Kim Collins is trying to recover his acoustic bass and two amplifier rigs, stolen from the stage at the Free Methodist Church last week. He’s at Wingspan10@aol.com.

Max’s Cabaret: Those fascinated by 1920’s-era nostalgia may want to head for Santa Barbara’s Marjorie Luke Theatre when Berlin’s Max Raabe brings his Palast Orchester there Friday, October 17, at 8 p.m. The program, sponsored by UCSB Arts & Lectures, also includes Cuban rumbas, elegant tangos, and modern pop.

Citizen McCaw: All four Santa Barbara screenings of the Wendy McCaw-News-Press documentary Citizen McCaw last week had good audience turnouts, along with many requests for the DVD, reports co-producer Rod Lathim. You can order the DVDs online at citizenmccaw.com for $25, he said. Coproducer Sam Tyler said some of Wendy’s friends who didn’t want to be seen at the screenings have been begging him for copies of the doc, reports blogger Craig Smith.

Fleeting to Fresno: Will Fleet, fired by News-Press owner Wendy McCaw a few years ago while on his honeymoon, caught on as publisher of the McClatchy chain’s Bradenton, Florida, Herald and now has been named publisher of the Fresno Bee. It’s also a McClatchy paper. Getting bounced by Wendy apparently hasn’t hurt Fleet’s career.

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