News
California activists reflect upon Maine, marriage prospects by Roger Brigham
EDGE San Francisco EditorWednesday Nov 11, 2009For supporters of marriage for same-sex couples in California, last week’s successful Maine referendum was certainly a painful disappointment. But this defeat has only re-energized activists who continue to work to overturn Proposition 8 and restore nuptials for gays and lesbians in the Golden State.
"By overturning the right of same-sex couples to marry, the voters of Maine, just like the voters of California, have denied gay and lesbian people the same rights and protections that straight couples enjoy," Lorri L. Jean, chief executive officer of the Los Angeles Gay & Lesbian Center, said. "The bigoted forces behind Prop 8 took their campaign of lies and deceit to Maine. They misled voters and once again turned our democracy into a ’mobocracy,’ subjecting the fundamental rights of a minority to the tyranny of the majority. The loss in Maine is heartbreaking, but it is only a temporary defeat. Nothing can stop the ultimate tide of freedom, justice and equality that is sweeping the nation."
A new poll conducted by the Los Angeles Times and the University of Southern California shows a slim majority of California voters now support marriage-but they still don’t want a vote on it in Sacramento until 2012. The survey shows 51 percent of voters now support marriage while 43 percent remain opposed. By comparison, last year 52 percent of the voters approved Prop 8, and 61 percent of California voters approved the state’s ban on marriage for gays and lesbians in 2000.
In spite of the growing support for marriage, the poll showed almost 60 percent of those surveyed said they did not want the issue on the ballot in 2010.
"The Maine defeat was a devastating blow to all who believe in equality, especially to same-sex couples and their families," Equality California executive director Geoff Kors said. "The efforts of anti-gay extremists to strip same-sex couples and their families of fundamental freedoms are not only abhorrent, but they have real and damaging consequences. Their discriminatory agenda fueled by dishonest attacks and scare tactics is dangerous and embodies the archaic politics of division."
In the Maine campaign, marriage opponents relied heavily on ads that warned school children would be "taught homosexuality" if gays are allowed to marry. Similar campaign materials were used last year in California during the Prop 8 campaign. Evidence that indicates Prop 8 supporters used prejudice against LGBT Californians is expected to play a major role in the ongoing federal court challenge to the ballot initiative’s validity.
"The loss in Maine is heartbreaking, but it is only a temporary defeat." "The results in Maine underscore exactly why we are challenging California’s same sex marriage ban in federal court," Chad Griffin, president of the American Foundation for Equal Rights, which is funding the Prop 8 challenge, said. "Our founding fathers did not intend for people’s Constitutional rights to be determined by political campaigns. The U.S. Constitution guarantees equal rights to every American, and when those rights are violated, it is the role of our courts to protect us, regardless of what the polls say."
Equality California has set up an online petition for people to urge President Obama to file a brief in support of the court challenge, which is scheduled to go to trial in San Francisco in January. The organization further criticized him for his lack of vocal support for marriage for gays and lesbians during the Maine campaign.
"We call on the Obama administration that was absent in a critical fight for the soul of our nation to speak up forcibly against these assaults on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Americans and to immediately join Equality California and others in asking the federal courts to rule that it is unconstitutional to allow a majority to take away rights from a minority," Kors said. "Millions of lives are being damaged and hundreds of millions of dollars spent needlessly, and it is time for our President and Congressional leaders to demonstrate leadership."
"Enough is enough," Kors said. "A minority group should never have to defend its rights at the ballot box."
Jean said while she feels the Maine campaign stirred bitter memories of last year’s Prop 8 battle, it also rekindled the determination of the LGBT community.
"Supporters of marriage equality are more energized and organized than ever before, and it is only a matter of time before we and our allies right the wrongs done to us at the ballot box," she said. "In California, we--with hundreds of volunteers--are continuing to meet one-one-one with voters to change hearts and minds, confident that justice will prevail."
Roger Brigham, a freelance writer and communications consultant, is the San Francisco Editor of EDGE. He lives in Oakland with his husband, Eduardo.
|
|
|
Email
Print
Share