It's still too close call, but it looks like California voters have backed Proposition 8, which would change the state Constitution to ban same-sex marriage. California Supreme Court legalized nuptials for same-sex couples earlier this year, and more than 18,000 couples took advantage of the landmark decision.
Right now about 95 percent of the vote is counted and the measure has 52 percent of the vote, but election officials estimate there could be as many as two million ballots left to count — primarily mail ballots that arrived Tuesday. The San Francisco City Attorney's office says he plans to challenge the validity of a ballot measure.
Yesterday was a sad day for America across the board in terms of gay marriage. In Arizona, Proposition 102 which bans gay marriage, easily passed. In Florida, the gay marriage ban needed 60 percent of the vote and still passed, which also restricts rights of any cohabitating couple who are not husband and wife. Meanwhile, Arkansas passed a measure forbidding anyone other than a married man and woman from adopting a child.
Stay tuned for final results as they come in.
Radley
Nooooooooooooooooooooooooo!
1I feel absolutely sickened about this.
2"Yesterday was a sad day for America across the board in terms of gay marriage. In Arizona, Proposition 102 which bans gay marriage, easily passed. In Florida, the gay marriage ban needed 60 percent of the vote and still passed, which also restricts rights of any cohabitating couple who are not husband and wife. Meanwhile, Arkansas passed a measure forbidding anyone other than a married man and woman from adopting a child."
What's *really* sad is that people don't realize this--propositions like these affect A LOT of people, not just a small slice of the population.
3i still don't get why people are against it.
4besides religion of course. marriage is a legal contract, it has nothing to do with religion, unless you make it that way [meaning you want to go in debt and do the whole church thing].
Adoption? For real? Thats sad for all those kids who could have found a loving home with two loving parents. Thats really sad.
5Most people don't think about the problems their decisions can cause others. And on another note the questions on the ballots were not exactly super easy for most people to understand. So I wonder how many people thought they were voting for something else when they cast their ballot? Free will should be offered to everyone and it just looks like that free will is being pulled away by those who cannot ever say that they are or were God.
6It was so surreal to listen to Obama's speech, and then see the poll numbers coming in for Prop 8. As we're making great strides in the country, there are still many civil rights issues. Also, I was kind of shocked when they started talking about what a great win women were having in the senate...up to 17 out of 100 senators are now women...wow, so impressive.
But don't forget how quickly things change, last poll tax was eliminated in the 60's in Texas, so we'll keep fighting the good fight!
7what will this mean for the couples who got married earlier this year when it was legal?
8silversnowflake- exactly, most people voted on an "ew" factor. Fine, you think gay sex is "ew" and allowing marriage condones that. But your "ew" feeling is getting written into your CONSTITUTION and is making real people, with real lives very very unhappy, and denying them the rights you have. And if you try to justify it on religious means...great, we're now condoning writing fundamentalist religious opinions into the Constitution. This is going to be a major embarrassment 20 years from now.
9This is so sad.
10Party, I second that. It's such a shame. I hope something turns around in those uncounted votes.
11I think Constitutions should GIVE rights, not take them away.
12This is terrible news.
13
14"It was so surreal to listen to Obama's speech, and then see the poll numbers coming in for Prop 8. As we're making great strides in the country, there are still many civil rights issues."
I felt the same way snowbunny...it was really bittersweet last night.
15whether or not you agree w/ gay marriage, it is truly a shame that inequality is being codified in a state consitution.
16it is especially sad that as we celebrate the election of an african-american to the highest office as a symbol of the u.s. being truly a land of opportunity, that notion of equality is not being shared as to all.
my understanding is that if prop 8 passes, the marriage of individuals who wed in CA will be invalidated. i can't imagine how those couples must be feeling now and what it must be like to have one of the happiest days of your life erased.
As a California resident, I am so ashamed to live in a state that votes to write discrimination into our constitution. We are suppose to have a separation of church and state but that obviously is not happening. People also complain about government and how they dont want it affecting their lives yet they allow it prohibit a basic right to a large population of people based on sexuality
This is a complete disgrace. EQUALITY FOR ALL!!!!!
17Who are we to tell two people that are in love regardless of their sexual orientation they cannot get married like a straight couple can and cannot have children, I've know people who were raised by two loving gay parents, I know straight couples that are the worst parents and should not be parents and I know a lot of gay people who deserve and would make great parents.
18Very sad. It is such a step backwards in terms of human rights and democracy in the U.S.
19Oops I meant "Very sad. It is such a step backwards in terms of human rights in the U.S." (not the democracy part..because obviously it was voted in)
20Unreal. How can we take away rights? Especially rights that were just given? I agree CYL, it seems like a complete reversal of progress.
21I'll say it again -
22I think Pierre Trudeau (fifteenth Prime Minister of Canada) said it best when he said -
"There's no place for the state in the bedrooms of the nation."
unbelievable .. i thought we were so passed this. congrats to Obama but we still got so far to go
23SAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAD!!!!!!!! I'm sooo pissed.
24I think it's such a shame. It's about Human Rights. I am particularly sickened by the FL vote to ban same sex couples adopting. Since when is a LOVING home worse than drifting from foster home to foster home?
25wait, it wasn't FL...wasn't it another state? Can't remember...
26Yup, it passed. How disappointing.
27It's so ridiculous that California is passing a measure that I have yet to hear anyone give a valid reason for. It protects nothing and no one.
28How would the district attorney challenge the measure? A constitutional amendment can only be changed through amendment, not the courts. The courts decide if something is unconstitutional, and if 8 passes, it will be necessarily constitutional. And in terms of the Federal Court, there's no way they'd touch this...
29
GirlC!
30This just guts me. There are so many people I love that this affects. It's disheartening and disgusting to me that such an awesome historical moment where races/genders/orientations came together to elect the first African American president that at the same time we take steps backward from true equality.
31MSucre- maybe the DA is challenging the very idea of a ballot measure? Or at least this as a ballot measure? I have no idea, and I agree the Federal Courts won't touch this...at least not for a long time. Maybe the legislature will overturn it though, they need 2/3 to write an amendment into the Constitution. I haven't heard anyone mention this. Yeah, propositions seem great for democracy, but maybe Civil Rights shouldn't be up to a popular vote. I don't think any Civil Rights measures have succeeded without the hand of the court or legislature. I mean, Brown v. Board, the populace was completely opposed to that, at least in the South.
32This is HORRIBLE, seriously I am very happy about Obama but it seems like we take a step forward and two back
c'mon people!!!!!!where's the love?
33I'm so upset, disappointed, and angry over this. Writing discrimination into any Constitution is un-American. Or at least it should be.
34This is so not fair. I feel horrible for all the couples and individuals this will affect.
(
35I'm really upset about it.
This map is pretty illuminating:
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/politics/cal/la-2008election-californi...
36This is just awful.
37Shame on Arkansas for preventing children from being adopted - now even more orphaned kids will go without homes of their own. I bet those same people fight soooo hard against abortion, but then once unwanted kids are born they make it extra hard for them to be cared for. Disgusting.
And honestly, I am embarrassed to live in a state that would take away anyone's right to marry. We built this country around the concept of a separation of church and state! No one who voted to ban gay marriage deserves to call themselves American, because such a ban directly contradicts the spirit of a free society.
38people, this is about so much more than two people getting married. They've made it an issue of civil rights. They have same sex attraction. IT'S A SLIPPERY SLOPE! What's stopping a man from standing up and saying he's attracted to his sister, or his 6 year old neighbor. You have to understand what you're arguing with. It's not about taking away rights, it's about defending our CONSTITUTION that marriage is between a MAN and a WOMAN. I love America and I love the founding fathers and I believe they were inspired men of God.
39Who ARE these people who voted for Prop 8? Where are they lurking?
40So......I know for a fact my very republican grandparents in CA voted no on 8. So did my mom and sister (both independent.) So............where are all these people who voted yes? Why are Floridians so against gay marriage? Californians? Obviously they exist in large quantities..........Bueller?
I feel like every generation looks back and says "wow were we wrong" about something. Racism. Anti-semitism. Burning witches. (seriously, who thought that was a good idea? And if they were witches, wouldn't they save themselves/come back to haunt?) I have a feeling this will be ours.
So....how do you open the minds and hearts of millions of people you don't know while being respectful and honest?
41whob, the difference is that it is a CRIME to have sex with a six year old. It is NOT a crime to have sex with someone of the same sex.
42I'm extremely upset about it
43whob - I was not directing that at you specifically. Sorry if it appears that way!
44Yep, Whob, it's about civil rights. Look, Whob, just because you need it written into law not to fall in love with your sister, do not muck up our government with your bigotry.
45For all those who vote because of religious views, in the bible it also says fornication is a grievous sin, do not commit adultery etc etc therefore that puts a lot of people in the same sin boat as homosexuals. Who are we to cast stoens when we don't have pure clean slates.
46Why do people always bring incest, pedofilia, and polygammy whenever they talk about gay marriage. Gay marriage is still between TWO consenting ADULTS. And that is all marriage has ever be. Nowhere is marriage for an adult and a child.. (and really are you naive enough to think that a pedofile will stop because marriage is not legal or MORE people will become pedofiles because gay marriage is legal?!). This brain washing from the religious right about 'the slippery slope' is ridiculous. In Canada we have gay marriages...and there has NOT been a jump in people wanting to marry their brothers or sister...or marry 5 wives or kids...NOT ONE CASE. NOT ONE.
47whob: comparing the relationship between two same-sex adults with incest and statutory rape is absolutely ridiculous.
48One step forward two steps back indeed.
Liberalism; taking over America, one prejudice at a time.
49whob, I cannot believe how ignorant that statement was. Incest is something that is physically dangerous because inbreeding leads to genetic defects. Sex with a child is physically dangerous for the child, PLUS the child is psychologically not able to consent to sex or marriage. Those things are DANGEROUS to the parties involved. Marriage between any to consenting adults affects NO ONE but said consenting adults.
P.S. You are a fraud of a Christian if you use God's message of love and acceptance to persecute people.
50Post New Comment
Please share your opinion with our community, but make sure it is on topic and follows our Community Rules. We moderate comments and prohibit personal attacks, threats, spam, lewd images, or the promotion of your personal website.