So I’ve been mulling over some of the reasons why the gays in California had their right to marry taken away from them. On the surface you see California being more liberal in its decisions and view points. It is home to the Castro District; moreover San Francisco itself is a liberal/gay Mecca. You have Berkley and so on. All these free thinking individuals in a state that went blue on Nov. 4th and the gays were still denied had their right to marry taken away. Not just taken away, the California State Constitution was amended to define marriage as being between a man and a woman. It’s like taking three giant steps backwards.
As I was sifting though the numerous quantities of internet information on the passing of Prop 8 I stumbled across several pieces of information that I find to be interesting.
First, the Mormons siphoned millions upon millions of dollars (upwards around 22 million dollars!!!) into getting Prop 8 passed. Alright then, if that’s what they wanted then that is what they got. Now it’s time to hear my terms and conditions for them. I want to attend your church. No I don’t want to go though all the hub-bub of becoming a Mormon…no no no. I just want to be able to walk into their church and participate…including weddings. I don’t think that’s much to asking. I mean since they have taken issue with what goes on in my bedroom then I should be able to see what goes on in their churches…and by go on I mean seeing everything. Somehow deep inside I don’t think they would let me in. I wonder why? Why are they so secretive? Why can’t I come and participate? More importantly, why did liberal Californians trust them enough to vote with them? Why is it that people will follow blindly with a group that won’t open the doors to their church to anyone? Also why do they get to define what “traditional/traditional marriage is?” If I’m not mistaken they aren’t necessarily the most traditional group ever. Well let’s just get one thing straight…If you are a mormon I’m judging you. Yes, I’m judging you and that’s what you get for following a church that got its beliefs from a man (Joseph Smith Jr.) who found your beliefs on gold plates.
The second areas I want to look at are the exit polls regarding Prop 8. So on a CNN blog they gave the following information on Prop 8 exit polls. (the link will be below)
“If the trend holds, younger, first-time voters can be said to be responsible for Proposition 8’s defeat. Voters between the ages of 18 and 29 opposed the proposition 66 percent to 34 percent; voters 30-64 were evenly split; voters 65 and above favored the amendment 57 percent to 43 percent.
First-time voters cast their ballots against the proposition by a 64 percent to 36 percent margin. The rest of the electorate favored the amendment 52 percent to 48 percent.
Californians who attend church weekly voted for Proposition 8 by an 83 percent to 17 percent. Those who attended church occasionally voted 40 percent in favor and 60 percent opposed. Californians who never attend church were 14 percent in favor and 86 percent against.
College graduates opposed Proposition 8 by a 57 percent to 43 percent margin. Those without a college degree favored it, 53 percent to 47 percent.
African-Americans voted for Proposition 8 by a 69 percent to 31 percent margin. However, 55 percent of white voters and 52 percent of Hispanics voted against the proposition.”
http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/11/05/exit-polls-gay-marriage-in-california/
At first looking at this I found nothing to surprising. I’m not surprised that the educated individuals and the young voters opposed the amendment. I’m not surprised that those people who attended church regularly supported the amendment. I mean you eventually get use church goers being blinded and brain washed enough by organized religions to never be able to make decisions for themselves. Who doesn’t love an antiquated book with a patchwork of stories, the bible, and a priest; aid you in your decision making? **insert sarcasm**
What did surprise me was how the African Americans voted. A whopping 69% of African Americans voted for Prop 8. 69%. I find this particularly upsetting considering their own struggles with civil rights. I took a Civil Rights course while in college and I found it somewhat comforting to know there were others that had to fight for their rights. They understood our plight. Granted it wasn’t nearly the same kind of fight, but we could commiserate to some extent. Well apparently the African Americans do not feel the same way about us gays. I think it is particularly hard when a marginalized group attacks another marginalized group. It stings a little more because the connection that we thought, or at least I thought, shared. Well now it’s just plain HYPOCRISY!
I just want you to know that you made history not once but twice election night. You helped vote into office the first African American President…but…you also took rights away from people too…welcome to the majority.
Finally, to those of you who will read this blog, don’t share my beliefs, and want to comment. If I find your comment particularly cruel I’ll remove it. Also, make sure it’s not anonymous and that I’m able to link back to your blog. There is nothing less appealing than someone who will insult your stance but are to chicken shit to leave a name or their blog.
I couldn’t agree with you more–thanks for posting this. I’m so ashamed of California right now, and I feel the same way about people of color having voted for Prop 8. It really is just hypocrisy and a small-mindedness that is unfortunately a “majority” in this country, which allows homophobia to remain a “socially-acceptable” form of bigotry.
P.S. (An aside–I like your last line about the chicken shitters who are going around leaving cruel comments on various blogs. I might consider adding a similar tagline to my posts.)
The fight is not over… the amendment did nothing to address the contradiction with the equal protection clause. The supreme court may interpret this to mean no one in California can get married. That would would be a nice little smack in the face for all those assholes that voted for proposition H8.
@culturepress I am with you on that about Prop 8. It is just a stunning loss and it breaks my heart to think about it. It just perpetuates a sterotype. As for the P.S. It drives me nuts when people comment on blogs and leave demeaning comments but are to spineless to leave their blogger name or blogger site. I think it just shows the kind of people they are. My posts aren’t always the nicest and I welcome people comments to help keep myself in check. It helps me make sure I’m not out of line. Apparently there are others that feel they can get way with whatever they want to say. Thanks for stopping by my blog and I will definate be stopping over at yours!!! Have a good weekend.
@matthew thompson That would be crazy if they outlawed all marriage in CA. You are totally right that would definately get people talking. I mean if others can decide for us whether or not we can marry how come we don’t get decide how heterosexual couples get to marry??? You also pegged it…The Fight Isn’t Over! I hope you have a good weekend too!
Thank you sammy25! And yes, there are a lot of angry, mean people out there, who go around leaving horrible demeaning comments (probably because they have no real balls outside of the internet).
I really appreciate that you’re helping keep this issue alive. Prop 8’s passage was a sad shame, and it’s extremely disheartening… I’m just keeping my fingers crossed for the Supreme Court to overturn this verdict.
Sammy I was so disheartened to have heard about this very sad news. Like you say its many steps backwards. I didn’t think there would be a problem as I always thought California was so liberal so I was shocked and saddened. It makes me and so many people so angry to see just how far the Mormons have went to deny people the right of being happy! I wish I was there to stand aside with everyone and fight for the right to marry! Great post buddy!
Just cant give up…. Rome wasn’t built in a day.
@culturepress I appreciate your support! We need to keep the issue alive. It is to easy for us to slide back into the humdrum lives of second class citizens. We definately need to keep having our voices heard. CA has it right now, now they have to keep it going. They need to keep protesting. This includes not spending money at any place that supported the passing of Prop 8 and not going to church. I am hoping the Supreme Court of CA overturns it. I mean the point of having a government run by the people is to let the people let their voice be heard and make decisions but not all the peoples decisions are correct or fair so we need groups to be able to stand up and overturn unfair rulings…a la, hopefully, the CA Supreme Court.
@romach I was blindsided just as much as you were regarding the gay issues this voting period. It amazes me that people follow so closely to religious institutions. Whatever happened to people being able to make informed desions by themselves? We wish you were here too! Every little bit helps. Currently they are protesting in CA and there are multiple states that are protesting this saturday so we will see what happens!
@Aaron You are totally right. Rome wasn’t built in a day. We just have to keep working at it and we have grow stronger as a community.
@sammy25 I will be following it closely too my friend
Sammy25, yes it’s too bad that often times we can’t leave some issues in the hands of popular vote. If we did that all along, then who knows how long slavery would’ve perpetuated after the Civil War, who knows how long it would’ve taken for African American suffrage. When it comes to human rights and equality, the “majority” is often wrong.
I’m happy that my town, San Francisco, had a big rally and protest on Friday. And we plan to continue such action until Prop 8 is overturned…!
@romach Thanks for following!!!!
@culturepress…you are completely right just because something is popular doesn’t necessarily make it right. I mean these people who say that now gay marriage in CA has been voted down and we should just stop doesn’t realize that one cannot vote to take away rights from a minority group. It a disenfranchisment of a group and it creates anger.
Good about the rally. We had a small one but it was good. What we need to do is be more vocal and more visiable. I mean I dont’ like to flaunt being gay in front of the world but the more we express who we are without fear the more people have to take us seriously.
sammy25, I stumbled across your blog via sideon’s sanctuary, one of my favorites. i like your blog as well and certainly understand the frustration with some of the cruel comments that we bloggers receive.
as of late, i’ve been getting quite a few myself over vernon, alabama…but i digress.
i wanted to send a quick note to say that i appreciate your points about prop 8 and am equally upset over the results especially since we had a similar amendment on the table (amendment 2) here in florida that passed.
i’m getting a little nervous however about what we are saying about the african-american vote and i’m hoping that it won’t transcend into further separations of us as a group.
although mixed race, i’m considered african-american by our government. i’ve got an italian-american partner of 9 years and we were very much disappointed at the results.
i guess what i’m trying to say is that i hope that i am not the object of misdirected anger, because of a shift in the voter turnout types. there are a lot of us out there fighting for the same rights.