Welcome to the latest installment of Better Know the Ballot. Today, we're looking at what I consider to be the most important initiative on the ballot: Proposition 8.
Proposition 8 is a state Constitutional amendment which ELIMINATES RIGHT OF SAME–SEX COUPLES TO MARRY.
Summary
* Changes the California Constitution to eliminate the right of same-sex couples to marry in California.
* Provides that only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California.
Fiscal Impact
* Over the next few years, potential revenue loss, mainly from sales taxes, totaling in the several tens of millions of dollars, to state and local governments.
* In the long run, likely little fiscal impact on state and local governments.
Background
In March 2000, California voters passed Proposition 22 to specify in state law that only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California. In May 2008, the California Supreme Court ruled that the statute enacted by Proposition 22 and other statutes that limit marriage to a relationship between a man and a woman violated the equal protection clause of the California Constitution. It also held that individuals of the same sex have the right to marry under the California Constitution. As a result of the ruling, marriage between individuals of the same sex is currently valid or recognized in the state.
Proposal
This measure amends the California Constitution to specify that only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California. As a result, notwithstanding the California Supreme Court ruling of May 2008, marriage would be limited to individuals of the opposite sex, and individuals of the same sex would not have the right to marry in California.
Vote Summaries
YES
A YES vote on this measure means: The California Constitution will specify that only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California.
NO
A NO vote on this measure means: Marriage between individuals of the same sex would continue to be valid or recognized in California.
Argument Summaries
PRO
Proposition 8 restores what 61% of voters already approved: marriage is only between a man and a woman. Four judges in San Francisco should not have overturned the people’s vote. Prop. 8 fixes that mistake by reaffirming traditional marriage, but doesn’t take away any rights or benefits from gay domestic partners.
CON
Equality under the law is a fundamental freedom. Regardless of how we feel about marriage, singling people out to be treated differently is wrong. Prop. 8 won’t affect our schools, but it will mean loving couples are treated differently under our Constitution and denied equal protection under the law. www.NoonProp8.com
For full arguments in favor and opposed to this Proposition, please visit the CA Voter Guide Online.
Personal Analysis
Okay, guys, so far I've tried to give pretty objective analyses to the measures I've covered. I've told you I favor the high-speed rail because its environmental impact would be equivalent to taking a million cars off the road. I've told you that I was in favor of greater rehabilitation for nonviolent drug offenders because, among other things, how much money it would save the state in prison costs.
But I have to take a different approach here. I'm a gay guy living in California. This proposal affects me personally. Do I ever planned to get married? I don't know. But knowing that I can, that that option is available to me, makes such an enormous impact and does such a great deal toward providing equality.
Conservatives want to say that I wasn't born this way: that it was my choice. That it was my choice to feel like an outcast, ashamed and self-loathing. That it was my choice to have to in the past have to lie to my parents, friends, and coworkers. That it was my choice to be different.
You know what? Fuck them.
People like Sarah Palin try to tell me that what I've been feeling inside all these years is a choice. That I could just "pray the gay away." They have no knowledge, no understanding of what it's like to have to hide your feelings for fear of getting disowned. They can't possibly comprehend the humiliation felt when intolerant assholes decide to bash gays. Now, I'm proud of who I am, but no thanks to conservatives who try to speak for me.
And so here we are, the California Supreme Court has finally decided that gays are entitled to equal rights under the law, and now the same conservative bigots who try and speak for me, are trying to take those rights away by putting Proposition 8 on the ballot and rescinding those rights.
Their argument is that in previous years, the electorate voted against gay marriage, and that we should let the tyrannical majority dictate my rights. Do you think that school desegregation would have happened had it been controlled by a popular vote? The courts are there to protect the minority rights from majority rule.
I've been a little flabbergasted by how nonchalantly people around here are viewing this. I've read comments like "Don't worry, it'll fail" and that polling looks good, so really, I shouldn't worry. Guess what? A CBS poll has actually shown that this proposition has gained momentum. This poll shows 47 percent in favor, as opposed to 42 percent against.
If Barack Obama wins, and Democrats win big on November 4th, it will be a bittersweet victory if Proposition 8 passes. Please, if you've got anything you can spare, head on over to The No on Prop 8 Site and donate! We cannot be complacent!
If Prop. 8 passes, it will be a huge step back in civil rights for us. Thousands of people who have for the first time in their lives gotten the right to marry the person they love, will have lost it. If Prop. 8 fails, though, it will send a signal that we are truly equals, and that Californians are okay with that.
Personal Endorsement
If you vote for nothing else on the ballot, vote NO on Proposition 8.
So ends another edition of Better Know the Ballot. Stay tuned for more.