Proposition 8

California's Proposition 8 of 2008 passed, adding the following text to Section 7.5 of Article I of the California Constitution: Only marriage between a man and a woman is recognized in California. It sought to return traditional marriage to the state.

History of Marriage in California

Historically marriage in the state of California had always been between a man and a woman as that was the understood definition of marriage. There was no need to include language that specified gender. In 1977, amidst a changing climate that saw the advent of the gay rights movement, the California legislature amended the California Family Code to make it clear that marriage was between a man and a woman.

In 2000 the possibility of same-sex marriage being legalized in other states led to Proposition 22 being passed, adding language to restrict California from recognizing the marriages of same-sex couples from other states as valid. Proposition 22 passed easily with 61% of the vote, but it was overturned by the Court in May of 2008. The court went further and gay marriage was legalized by judicial degree, not by the will of the voters or the legislature.

The Campaign for Proposition 8

Proposition 8 was written in response to the four California Supreme Court Justices overturning the will of the people and sought to redefine traditional marriage in California.

With over 70 million dollars being spent all told, it became the most expensive campaign on a social proposition in history.

With 99% of the precincts in, the measure apparently was passed 52% to 48%. While much was made of the fact that it was losing in the polls up until the time of the election, proponents pointed out that similar measures were often reported as polling poorly, but the actual vote was different. For instance Proposition 22 was supposed to be too close to call in 2000. Although it had been claimed that minority voters were against the message, exit polling on election day showed that latinos favored it overall while blacks favored it with a 70% yes vote. The large number of blacks who came out to vote for Barack Obama helped to tip the scale for Proposition 8's passing, even though Obama himself said to vote against it.

Aftermath

Unfortunately the Democratic process alone is not sufficient to some. Supporters of gay marriage vandalized Yes on 8 signs, delivered hate mail, and ultimately death threats, causing at least one top supporter of Proposition 8 to hire a bodyguard. Ultimately the realization that the people had spoken led to protests and arrests.

Due to the passage of Proposition 8, homosexual marriages are no longer being granted in California.

California Attorney General Jerry Brown believes that the 18,000 same-sex marriages that were performed before Proposition 8 passed are still valid. Others have postulated the marriages may be converted to domestic partnerships , which in California have the same rights as marriage. The leaders of the Proposition 8 petition have not taken a position in this matter.

Controversy

Both the campaigns for and against Proposition 8 were very controversial because of the means and practices associated with both campaigns. Overall it was the most expensive proposition ever on a ballot in the country's history and some believe that it was one of the major factors resulting in California's record high voter turnout.

A large point of criticism of Proposition 8 came up after a series of television ads were placed that depicted a child coming home from school and telling her mother that she learned about "a prince who married a prince." The ads implied that if Proposition 8 failed, children would be forced to learn that a same-sex marriage is the same as a traditional marriage, which isn't technically true because it's up to the public school board what children should be taught. Activists against Proposition 8 took advantage of the misleading advertising to criticize proponents of Proposition 8 for lying to voters. Eventually the controversial ads were pulled, but the No on 8 campaign continued to broadcast ads criticizing the controversial ones.

Another point of controversy was brought up when one of the heads of the Yes on Proposition 8 campaign allegedly sent a letter to several major corporate contributors to the No on 8 campaign threatening them if they didn't donate equal amounts to the Yes on 8 campaign as well.