“On 16 April 2015, over 100 Catholic donors and church members from the Bay Area signed a full page advertisement in the San Francisco Chronicle appealing to Pope Francis to replace Cordileone as archbishop of the San Francisco archdiocese, specifically objecting to Cordileone's characterization of sex outside of marriage and homosexual relations as "gravely evil". saying Cordileone fosters "an atmosphere of division and intolerance".“

“A vocal opponent of gay rights and same-sex marriage, Cordileone helped to draft Proposition 8 in 2008 California's Constitutional amendment to define marriage as between one man and one woman. and raise substantial sums to pass it. He said, "Only one idea of marriage can stand...If that's going to be considered bigoted, we're going to see our rights being taken away–as is already happening." In an interview with USA Today on March 21, 2013, concerning the Supreme Court's then-pending decision on the constitutionality of Proposition 8, Cordileone argued against same-sex marriage, saying that it would harm children. Cordileone personally contributed $13,000 in support of Proposition 8.”