Proposition 8: Gay marriage issue spawns rallies, signs, nuptials
29th October 2008
Proposition 8 is anywhere but in the closet. Supporters of the proposed ban on gay marriage wave signs at motorists from a Highway 101 overpass. Opponents send each other text messages to meet after work at street corner rallies in Thousand Oaks.
The fight's rising temperature is evidenced by the same-sex couples getting married before Election Day at the Ventura County Government Center and regular reports of destroyed campaign signs, with one placard supporting the proposition obliterated by a swastika.
The emotion is driven by deadline. On Tuesday, voters go to polling places and deliver what many people see as a landmark message that could influence how other states deal with gay marriage. "Yes" defines marriage in California's constitution as a union between a man and a woman, eliminating gay marriage. "No" means same-sex couples can continue to get married.
The California Supreme Court gave couples that right earlier this year by overturning Proposition 22, the gay marriage ban approved by voters eight years ago.
Both sides expect a close race — so close there could be a recount, according to one expert — and have pumped a combined total of more than $60 million into their campaigns.
Proposition supporters are making phone calls and knocking on doors to make sure people vote. Some supporters will gather Sunday night at the Evangelical Free Church of the Conejo Valley in Newbury Park to ask for more help. They'll pray for the overall election and to protect traditional marriage and Proposition 4's parental notification for teen abortion.
"We believe that prayer does something," said the Rev. Steve Larson. "There are things that happen because we pray, that won't happen if we don't pray."
Opponents of the proposition are praying and trying to get the vote out, too. They're using phone banks and rallies to try to reach people who are undecided. Jay Smith, executive director of the Ventura County Rainbow Alliance, said the campaign is targeting more conservative communities.
"We're talking to the 20 percent that are sitting in the middle and begging for more information," he said. "Those people are in Simi Valley, Thousand Oaks and Newbury Park."
The battle is earmarked by signs: the yellow placards that support the proposition and blue signs urging people to vote no. More than 30 yellow signs were posted in the parking lot at St. Rose of Lima Catholic Church in Simi Valley. All were torn up and destroyed over the weekend, said the Rev. Joseph Shea.
A larger sign at the front of the church property was vandalized, its yes message replaced by a black swastika.
"Nearly 50 of my parishioners have told me that the signs they placed on their front lawns supporting Proposition 8 have been stolen from their property or destroyed," Shea said in an e-mail, adding he hasn't heard of the same damage being done to signs supporting gay marriage. "It seems for some that freedom of speech and the respect of people's right to express their beliefs only apply to one side of an argument."
Opponents of the proposition say their signs have been stolen and destroyed, too. They cite a Newbury Park home where a "No on Proposition 8" sign apparently provoked someone to spell out a homosexual slur in a front lawn.
"There's a lot of passion in this issue," said Percy Sales, who is organizing a rally against the proposition Thursday in Ojai. Though some have characterized the fight as a cultural war, Sales thinks the issue is focused solely on equality.
"We should all have equal protection and equal rights," he said. "That's the American thing."
Larson said he's not trying to take away rights but to protect the traditional and biblical definitions of marriage.
"It's not a statement against or of hating homosexuals," Larson said. "We're just saying why do you need to call it marriage?"
Much of the debate in the county is focused on the ramifications of the vote. Supporters of the ban say that if the proposition is defeated, gay marriage will be taught in schools. They say churches that refuse to marry same-sex couples could be sued or threatened with the loss of their tax-exempt status.
Greg Jones, president of the Ventura stake of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, said the issues illustrate how gay marriage affects other people.
"We are concerned that the decision legalizing gay marriage will be an infringement of religious liberty and will also interfere with the ability parents have to teach their children," he said.
Opponents of the proposition said that same-sex marriage involves only civil marriage and doesn't compel churches to marry anyone. They said there's no impact on school education, either, and a campaign ad features State Schools Superintendent Jack O'Connell saying the same thing.
"People are making this into a children's issue and a religious freedom issue," said Sales, who married his partner of 16 years, Ross Beardsley, in June. "It's about all Californians having the ability to marry, should they choose. It's about marrying the one person you love."
Talk to voters and many have absolute opinions — for or against the proposition. Some say they're still on the fence. An undecided woman cited her Catholic upbringing. A man from Simi Valley said he was confused about the effect on education.
Most observers expect the race to be close, so close it could be contested, said John Evans, a UC San Diego sociology professor who studies religion and politics. He also suggested that people may not be forthcoming when talking to pollsters about gay marriage.
"I don't think you're necessarily going to get a straight answer," he said.
That uncertainty is why Lois Owensby and Laura Kopase of Chatsworth bought $10 sterling silver rings at the Ventura County clerk and recorder's office and exchanged wedding vows Monday. The status of same-sex marriages performed before the election would likely be determined by courts if the proposition passes.
"We just wanted to be like everyone else who is committed to someone," Owensby said. "If this constitutional amendment passes, we may never get the opportunity to marry."
Source: Ventura County Star