Photo by ~db~ via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr
According to the Associated Press, election officials in California have called the contentious, expensive, divisive, and highly-watched battle over Proposition 8:
California voters have adopted a constitutional amendment outlawing same-sex marriage, overturning the state Supreme Court decision that gave gay couples the right to wed just months ago.And with that, Californians, marriage has been "restored." Because, like, you know, if 8 hadn't passed, you'd all have to marry someone of the same sex, right? And, like, your kids would have to have homosexuality indoctrinated into them in public schools, right? And no heterosexual could live the same life as they did before same-sex marriage was approved, right?The passage of Proposition 8 represents a crushing political defeat for gay rights activists, who had hoped public opinion on the contentious issue had shifted enough to help them defeat the measure.
It also represents a personal loss for the thousands of couples from California and others states who got married in the brief window when they could. Legal experts have said it will have to be resolved in court whether their unions still are valid.
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I'm just so sad and disgusted by this. I wanted to be happy today, and I'm just not.
i'm disgusted with our state, but more disgusted by the apathy and complacency on our side.
if we don't stand up for ourselves, who will? we have to keep fighting but the road today is much steeper.
It doesnt appear the state truly was ready for equal rights. Now that I am not even sure what that means anymore.
civil unions are still legal i voted yes for prop 9 get a life make peace not war
It sucks. It sucks. It sucks.
Nooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!
Anybody know the final tally?
That's monkey butt.
AZ passed something similar too, despite having struck it down in the 2006 election.
civil unions are still legalin california i voted yes for prop 8 get a life make peace not war
First of all, it's not official. There are still over 3,000,000 votes left to be counted. Second of all, the proposition will never be instated because the California Supreme Court already deemed such a ban unconstitutional and set precedent for any future challenges. Therefore, whoever got this proposition on the ballot wasted a lot of time and a lot of money. Nice try.
this is insanity. we pass prop 2 but we can't even pass prop 8. i guess farm animals have more rights than same sex couples. :(
The LA times has a map of how each county voted. It barely passed in LA county, but unfortunately it pass significantly in all so cal counties.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/politics/cal/la-2008election-california-results,0,1293859.htmlstory
the fight isn't over and we need to organize more constructively for the next battle. i think the fight will get better from here. i am hoping it will. :)
p.s: OBAMA!!!!
The No on 8 group is not conceding yet - the mail-in and provisional ballots are yet to be counted.
In any case, if (and when, given the odds) it does pass, SF is ready to go back to court to fight it: SF City Attorney to file legal challenge to Prop. 8.>
melissajean11, it's a constitutional amendement. That was the point. The CA Supreme Court said it was unconstitutional because it denies rights to a minority group based on inherent characteristics. So the Yes on 8 people want to amend the constitution to enshrine discrimination into it so it CAN'T be overturned. It can be repealed, though, with a lot of hassle.
I hope the government says, "Fine, you guys don't want to extend civil rights to everyone? Marriage is over. Civil unions for all!"
What a horrible fucking night. After being so ecstatic that Obama won, I woke up this morning as a second class citizen of California.
This is insane and I am so depressed. Do people really think I am incapable of ever having a family?
Jesus, I hope those 4 million ballots are all No on 8 or the amendment is overturned.
Somewhere Jeff Kent's smiling, somewhere bigots shout,
For equality and tolerance have together been struck out.
I friend of mine pointed out something ironic about this whole struggle. With all the signs and commercials etc. kids actually end up learning about gay marriage anyway, probably more so than they would have if Prop 8 didn't pass...
Msmerymac
It is only a STATE constitutional amendment. It is entirely possible that it is struck down as violative of the FEDERAL constitution, as Article 6 declares federal law to be supreme. Thus, if a state law, ANY state law, violates the federal constitution (here, this would violate equal protection, and likely due process as well) then it is null. Even if it is a state constitutional enactment.
yeah msmerymac.... and the courts still decide whether an amendment is constitutional.... what they ruled before was that adding an amendment to California's state constitution would be unconstitutional. propositions still have to pass through them they don't automatically become an amendment. please know your facts before you post a comment toward me
Hey lahipster, people might be more inclined to listen to your arguments if you actually evinced proof of an actual education or at least the ability to use reason and logic.
Yay marriage. At least half of marriage doesn't end in divorce. Oh wait, it does. Glad we protected that.
what i see in the future:
no marriages for ANYONE.
civil unions for EVERYONE.
you care so much about your "sacred" institution? keep it in your church then.
to me, this would be justice. and it would send the evangeloonies through the roof.
that's change i can believe in.
seriously buzz, they want to take away homosexual's right to marry, we take away heterosexual's right to marry too (then they'll see how it really feels)
msmerymac - You can actually fight the constitutionality of a constitutional amendment. It's a bit sticky, but there's some legal logic to the idea that where there are two inconsistent Constitutional provisions (i.e., the Equal Protection clause and the clause that eliminates the right for gay people to marry), one of them will have to go. A decision to add something to the Constitution doesn't make that something constitutional.
The only part of my marriage with my wife that was affected by gay marriage was last night when we both became sad that our friends civil rights were taken away from them.
And my daughter will be taught that someday our country will allow everyone to have equal rights and Gays and lesbians will be able to marry.
i forgot to mention this on my last comment.
BOO lahipster.
Hi everyone. I worked for the No on 8, Equality for All campaign this past summer with the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force's Organizing and Training Dept.
I just want to say that I am extremely hurt by the decision California voters took yesterday. If you know ANYONE who works/worked/volunteered with the No on 8 campaign please please make sure you commend them for their work. I have NEVER witnessed such hard work. This type of work is mentally, physically, and (especially) emotionally tiring. These amazing people worked in excess of 80 hrs/wk. All so that they could become second-class citizens. Wake up California.
Gee, sorry, Melissa, I didn't know there was a specific set of "rules" I had to know beforehand and follow if I wanted to respond to you.
Gary, you make a good point - the federal constitution is the supreme law of CA. I'm afraid if this reaches the SCOTUS, though, that they will be able to somehow strike down gay marriage throughout the entire US.
I'm sorry, can someone explain why election officials, who go purely by numbers would call Prop 8:
Yes: 52%
No: 48%
Yet still not call Prop 4:
Yes: 47.6%
No: 52.4%
It doesn't statistically make sense to call a prop that has less of a split and not call on the prop with a wider one. Something smells.
Same goes for Prop 1a (not called):
Yes: 52.2%
No: 47.8
Pretty disappointed with the way LA voted on this. This city could've helped defeat this idiocy, but because it was so close, it won.
Our country was set up to protect the rights of minority opinion. Not allow a pure democracy to stomp on those they disagree with.
Sad for Prop 5 too. :(
if I don't get all the rights, why should I have all the responsibilities?
seriously people -- its time to protest
stop going to jury duty, stop paying state taxes
Hey, this just means we have more to do.
If the yes on 8 people can get away with the kinds of lies and fear tactics they used, and manage to convince more than 50%, (however thin a majority), of voters that gays and lesbians are such a threat, more education and outreach is needed.
As a tolerant straight person, I'm ready to do my part.
Prop 8 was a cock of bullshit and everyone knew it. I'm sorry the bigots in California won.
California; meet Jim Crow
I'm with jrb. I'm not a gay man, but this offends me more than I can ever express. lahipster you are a dolt.
i think we need to start with step one, which is uniting before moving on to fight this. weho is closing their streets for a protest tonight at 7 next to the park.
it won't change the results, but it will give us the avenue to unite for the fight ahead
Poor Ellen.
U CAN SAY PROP. 8 PASSED. I WAS HAPPY 2 HEAR THAT THERE WHERE MORE PERCENT OF PEOPLE VOTED YES, REMEMBER GOD MADE MAN & WOMEN NOT MAN WITH MAN OR WOMEN WITH WOMEN. REMEMBER 2 HAVE A FAMILY (KIDS) U NEED MAN & WOMEN...
Step away from the caps lock...
stay away
period.
paramount_frost,
Some married couples have kids, some do not. Some straight couples cannot reproduce and so adopt.Are you saying these couples cannot have a family? This is an absolutely broken logic used frequently as a justification for this bigoted measure. You seem to have such divine insight into the will of God, so why don't you elaborate to every one your definitive proof of your statements. Reading it out of a book doesn't count.
IF U DONT LIKE IT DONT READ IT!!!!!!
IF U DONT LIKE IT DONT READ IT!!! THATZ HOW I LIKE 2 WRITE SO PEOPLE CAN SEE THAT I MEAN WHAT I WRITE...
OOGA BOOGA OOOOGA!
hmmm i didn't know that a feature on a computer would signify that you mean what you say!
2 ALL... IT WAS MADE 2 B MAN & WOMEN THATZ ALL I'M SAYING. I UNSTAND THERE R SOME COUPLES THAT CANT HAVE KIDZ SO THEY DO ADOPT BUT WHEN ITZ A MAN & WOMEN NOT THE SAME SEX... KIDZ WILL GROW UP CONFUSES ON Y THEY HAVE 2 DADDYZ OR 2 MOMMYZ
Kids only grow up confused when their parents don't interact with them, explain things to them, take an active role in their lives, and give them guidance.
Furthermore, the state of marriage and who may or may not enter into it, has nothing to do with the couple's ability or likelihood to produce children; things like children born out of wedlock, children who are adopted, children created by means of medical intervention, children born of rape/incest reinforce the secular disconnect between marriage and the creation of children.
Although some people's individual religious beliefs provide for them definitions of marriage and the role of marriage as deemed by the word of their deity, not everyone shares those beliefs. Since no one would expect those who subscribe to those beliefs to change what they think or how they should behave, it seems hypocritical and illegal (separation of church and state) to ask those who disagree to modify their behavior.
Basic, basic, basic civil rights.
you are totally wrong paramount frost. the ignorance in your postings are what made prop 8 pass. i HOPE you don't have any children. cause they'll have to go through A LOT of therapy to unlearn the crap you're saying.
Oh, and PS, paramount frost, since you seem to be "educating" the comments section on your views, allow me to "educate" you on your "writing skills."
the following are not words:
2
B
thatz
kidz
r
y
daddyz
mommyz
itz
Further, you have mis-conjugated the verb "to confuse"--it should be "confused" and not "on y(sic)" but rather "because."
Whether you use all caps or not to "show that you mean what you're saying" (and why anyone would bother to write what they didn't mean baffles me) your butchering of the English language only leads to the overall impression that you are both uneducated and ignorant.
The mistake you're making, paramount_frost, is to assume that all children are as lacking in intellect as you are.
Fortunately, they're not.
makes me want to re-institute literacy and competency tests to vote.. but that would be wrong, and i know the difference between my my opinions and actually adding my opinion to the constitution
The rights of the majority are never guaranteed, let alone the rights of the minority. With time, hard work and education anything can be done. Fight for what you believe b/c if you don't no one else will.
Just got wind of this:
PROTEST DEMONSTRATION AGAINST PROP 8 TONIGHT AT 7PM AT SAN VICENTE AND MELROSE
SPREAD THE WORD WIDELY
OUR FIGHT FOR OUR EQUALITY, DIGNITY AND FULL CITIZENSHIP IS FAR FROM OVER
LET THIS DEFEAT ENERGIZE US TO TAKE ACTION - REACH OUT - BUILD STRENGTH ACROSS COMMUNITIES
WE CANNOT LAY DOWN IN DEFEAT - WE MUST STAND UP AND FIGHT
San Vicente Blvd, between Santa Monica Blvd and Melrose Avenue will be closed tonight starting at 6 pm. San Vicente south-bound traffic will be directed to make left or right at Santa Monica Blvd. Signs have already been posted to help divert traffic.
For more information about tonight's rally, please contact (323) 848-6460.
Unfortunately it's the ignorant, non-open minded, illogical, uneducated masses that help pass this bigoted proposition. It's very sad that there are so many of them out there.
Read the exit poles! 70% of African Americans voted yes on Prop 8. Pretty sad. The glbt community needs a better dialogue with the aa community.