Prop. 8 result energizes gay-rights supporters

As the world now knows, last week's passage of Proposition 8 did little to end the roiling debate over whether gays and lesbians should have the right to marry.
In fact, California's vote to ban same-sex marriage – the second in eight years – has only further divided the two sides by igniting a wave of protests and boycotts among supporters of such unions.

For the second straight weekend, thousands of San Diegans are expected to take to the streets today to demand gays be permitted to marry their partners. Simultaneous marches are scheduled in all 50 states.

It's not clear what effect the continuing outcry will have on the fate of the California proposition – at the ballot box, in court or in the court of public opinion.

But there is no doubt the election's aftermath has energized gay-rights supporters and frustrated those who say two votes to preserve marriage as a union between one man and one woman should be respected.

“It's easy to sustain energy when your rights have been taken away,” said Sara Beth Brooks, who helped organize today's march in San Diego. “We had these rights. We were able to be married, and now those rights have been stripped from us.”
Carol Hogan of the California Catholic Conference said protests erupted in the vote's wake because gay-rights supporters expected to win.
“Will they be effective? I don't know,” said Hogan, whose group lobbies on behalf of Catholic bishops and helped pass Proposition 8. “But I know for a fact that if the vote had gone the other way you wouldn't being seeing protests. We would have been disappointed, but we wouldn't be protesting.”

Supporters of same-sex marriage say the law should provide equal rights and protections to all people. They see demonstrations and political activism as ways to exert pressure on judges who will consider the lawsuits and on voters who embraced the marriage ban.

“It makes every person who voted for that proposition re-examine the impact of that vote on their future, their families and the lives of other people,” said Ron Yardley, a Carmel Valley travel agent who has followed the protests but not participated.

“It's more of a civil rights issue than a protect-marriage issue.”
Opponents of Proposition 8 are pursuing a two-pronged strategy to restore same-sex marriages – challenging the initiative's constitutionality at the state Supreme Court and readying a new measure for the 2010 ballot that would reverse the ban.

Mark DiCamillo, who directs the nonpartisan Field Poll, said Nov. 4 was an optimal opportunity for supporters of same-sex marriage because so many people turned out for the historic election – including younger voters more inclined to support gay and lesbian rights.

DiCamillo said younger voters likely won't turn out in large numbers again until at least the next presidential race in 2012. “With the generational change in the electorate, it's coming your way, but give it a few more years,” DiCamillo said.

Legal experts say the state Supreme Court is not likely to reject Proposition 8 because the measure amended the state Constitution, defining marriage as between one man and one woman.

Fred Karger of Californians Against Hate, a San Diego nonprofit that has been organizing protests against Yes on 8 contributors since July, said the election result jump-started what he regarded as a lackadaisical effort by gay-rights supporters.

“It lit a fire under the gay community and our allies,” said Karger, who filed a Fair Political Practices Commission complaint Thursday against the Mormon church. “This is going to change history forever and speed up our civil rights movement by probably a generation.”
Fred Karger of Californians Against Hate, a San Diego nonprofit that has been organizing protests against Yes on 8 contributors since July, said the election result jump-started what he regarded as a lackadaisical effort by gay-rights supporters.

“It lit a fire under the gay community and our allies,” said Karger, who filed a Fair Political Practices Commission complaint Thursday against the Mormon church. “This is going to change history forever and speed up our civil rights movement by probably a generation.”

The complaint accuses the church of failing to report the full value of the work it did campaigning for the ban.

Jeff Flint, a top Yes on 8 strategist, said singling out specific people shows a lack of respect for the majority will. He predicted the protests would prove to be counterproductive.

“The outrageous religious bigotry and targeting churches for their protests, threatening the jobs and livelihoods of people who were active in the campaign, I think that crosses the line and the voters see that,” he said.

The demonstrations and boycotts, primarily organized by grass-roots volunteers who were not in charge of the No on 8 campaign, prompted leaders of that campaign to issue a statement warning their supporters to behave respectfully.

“We achieve nothing if we isolate the people who did not stand with us in this fight,” the campaign said. “We only further divide our state if we attempt to blame people of faith, African American voters, rural communities and others for this loss.”

Mormons were not the only advocates preaching “yes” votes on the same-sex marriage ban. In the weeks before the election, ministers from many faiths asked their congregations to approve the initiative and give to the Yes on 8 campaign.

The Rev. Jim Garlow, pastor of Skyline Church in Rancho San Diego, was one of the most visible religious leaders advocating for Proposition 8. He said protesters, judges and elected officials should respect the election result.

“That's how democracy works,” Garlow said. “People vote, and one side wins.”

Support for the ban was especially strong in the black and Latino communities, according to exit polls, likely because faith and values trumped any empathy for the gay community's claims of discrimination.

The Rev. George Walker Smith, retired pastor of Christ United Presbyterian Church in San Diego and founder of the Catfish Club speakers bureau, said he was disappointed but not surprised by how his fellow African-Americans voted. He attributed it to their faith and what they've been taught.

“I would have voted “no” 100 times if I could have,” he said. “It's a foolish effort on the part of people trying to control other people's lives.”