It's rather sickening that 18,000 marriages can potentially be annulled by popular vote--particularly by such a narrow margin of voters. It's a mockery of the legal system that when judges determine that discrimination is unconstitutional, those who wish to continue discriminating simply change the constitution--especially when so much of the money and political power behind that change come from another state.
I would like to celebrate Obama's victory with the rest of the nation, and I am excited to be part of this historic moment, but I can't stop thinking about the families who will be hurt by Proposition 8. Perhaps President Obama will hold true to the promise he made to the LGBT community to repeal DoMA, and maybe that big step forward will compensate for this huge step backward.
I've been planning for a while to take a little break from blogging after this election. I think I'll do that. Maybe just a few days, maybe a little longer. I'll be back when I have something to say that isn't bitter or angry.
EDIT: Maybe I'm conceding defeat too early. I'd love to see the final count show a last minute turnaround.
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It's possible I'm wrong in interpreting your "another state" as meaning Utah. If I'm right, you might want to redirect your anger from Mormons to Obama - since it was the African-American vote that made the difference, not the Mormon vote.
I guess you could say Prop. 8 rode in on Obama's coattails. San Francisco's dismal voter turnout didn't help either.
CNN exit poll.
That was actually a pretty racist comment, I hope you weren't serious, but even if you weren't, that seems in poor taste. To even jokingly suggest to blame Obama because a large percentage of African-Americans in California voted yes is pretty disturbing to me.
The Mormons may not have contributed significantly in voting, but without a doubt if they hadn't gotten involved, this would not have passed. They donated an insane amount of money, and they propagated the lies throughout the community that made otherwise rational people fearful enough to destroy another person's rights. The majority of the condemnation lies on the heads of the Mormon church. They will not live this hateful, bigoted act down for a long time to come.
I don't believe RC's comment was racist. He was just pointing out that more African-Americans voted for Prop 8 than Mormons, and so in his view it would make more sense for me to be angry at the former group of people than the latter.
To be clear, I'm angry at everyone responsible for Prop 8 passing, regardless of their race, religion, or reason for supporting discrimination. As Craig says, though, it was Mormon money that flooded California's media with the lies that convinced religious voters (many of whom happen to be black) that their religious freedom was at stake. It was Mormon money that turned a 17-point lead in the polls to a 2-point deficit, almost overnight. If a group of men in Salt Lake City had not told their followers to do all they can, California's constitution would not be changed to justify discrimination.
And the Obama connection is that he got black voters to the polls, which is a valid point. But I'm not angry at him. :)
Because Prop 8 or no, more black voters at the polls is a good thing.
CNN says its too close to call today. Hope is still there.
Yeah, some papers are declaring a victory for 8 but others are saying it's too early to say. And then there are other actions the opposition can take before this goes into effect so no, we are not without hope.
Thanks for your eloquent comments here and in earlier posts.
I don't "blame" anybody for the (potential) passage of Prop 8. I blame ignorance, and the manipulation of ignorance through fear.
I feel incredibly sad about it... But the silver lining is that its passage was so close, it means that there aren't that many more people we need to convince to turn it around.
I think the worst thing we could do is to get resentful and act out of the same fear or anger or hate that was stirred up against us. We need to follow Barack's example and just keep telling our story, sharing our faith and our hope, and reaching out to the people who think we're their enemies.
(I plan to do that tomorrow, after I've had a good cry.)
Thanks, John. I'm keeping myself from writing the several posts that keep popping into my head out of an attempt to not act on fear or anger or hate. We'll see how well I do on that.
The good news is that, at least for the time being, your marriage is still valid.
Yeah, it sucks big time, and is seriously killing my Obama-buzz. HOWEVER. It did pass by a pretty narrow margin, and if I'm remembering correctly, people under 30 overwhelmingly voted No. So...all we have to do is wait for people to die.
But fight anyway, because the sooner the better.
Yes, it's tremendously frustrating now, but anyone who doesn't recognize that in the long run the Prop 8 supporters are fighting a losing battle is just plain blind. Equality will come sooner or later, but yes, for the sake of people suffering from discrimination right now, it's worth fighting for the sooner.
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