 "Photo: David Boies")
 "Photo: Ted Olson")
In November 2008, amid massive public demonstrations, the controversial ballot initiative Prop. 8 was passed. As a result, marriage between two members of the same sex was banned in the state of California, but that could change by the end of this year.
Gay rights organizations are pushing to overturn Prop 8 on two fronts. One is by convincing California voters to overturn Prop. 8 by passing a new ballot initiative. The other is by challenging the constitutionality of the law in U.S. District Court.
No matter what the outcome of the trial is, it is widely expected to be appealed to the United States Supreme Court. A Supreme Court case would have national implications for gay marriage.
Initially, the Prop. 8 trial was to be broadcast for public viewing in other California courthouses and on Youtube, a move that would have been the first of its kind. However, in a controversial move, the U.S. Supreme Court on Jan 11 barred television cameras from the courthouse. The Supreme Court said its decision was made to protect gay marriage opponents from harassment.
This ban caused some discontent among the gay community, but some understood the reason behind the ban.
“The trials not being televised didn’t really bother me. I don’t think it was anything against the gay community … it’s just how things worked out,” said Matt Hassenpflug, a fifth-year hotel and restaurant management student.
Another interesting twist in the case was that lawyers David Boies and Theodore Olson, who previously faced each other as opponents in the Bush v. Gore trial of 2000, teamed up to overturn Prop. 8.
“We’re going to explain why allowing same-sex couples to have that same right that the rest of us have is not going to hurt heterosexual marriages,” Olson told Maureen Dowd of the New York Times. “It has no point at all except some people don’t want to recognize gays and lesbians as normal, as human beings.”
On the other front, a request for an official ballot title, and a repeal to California’s Proposition 8, called “Marriage Equality Act” was proposed by John Henning, the head of signforequality.com and Executive Director of “Love, Honor, Cherish” on Sept. 24 of last year.
“This ban [on same-sex marriage] is representative of the Jim Crow laws, which affected African Americans centuries ago,” said Jimmy Douglas, a second-year hotel and restaurant management student. “There is a distinct separation between marriage and civil unions, and giving the LGBT community something similar isn’t the same as having what everyone else has.”
The proposed amendment has two main sections. One section protects religious freedom and the other section wishes to provide fairness in the government’s issuance of marriage licenses.
In order to provide this so-called “fairness,” section 7.5 of Article I of the California Constitution, would be amended to read “Marriage is between only two persons and shall not be restricted on the basis of race, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, or religion.”
Signforequality.com began a groundbreaking effort to gather sufficient signatures to repeal Prop. 8 and re-establish equal marriage rights for same-sex couples. This is the first time in history social networking technology has been used to qualify an initiative on the California ballot.
“Signforequality.com will make history by using custom social networking tools … to support an all-volunteer signature drive to repeal Prop 8,’ said John Henning, the director of the effort. “People throughout California can now help us win marriage back by the simple act of signing and collecting signatures.”
The proponents of this initiative have until April 12 to collect 1 million signatures. It is not clear how many signatures they have gathered at this time.
As with any political initiative, education is an important factor in gaining momentum and public support.
“Homosexuals being open in their homosexuality and showing the American public they are normal, functioning members of society will open the door for change,” said Bruce Heckert, a Cal Poly graduate student.
“[The Pride Center] holds educational workshops that promote the notion that the LGBT community is ‘normal,’” said Hassenpflug. “It is important to bring people together to show that being gay isn’t a choice or a sin. Education is the first step.”
Supporters of gay marriage and the “Marriage Equality Act” face opposition, even from some in favor of gay marriage.
Sixty percent of Californians do not want to revisit the issue this year, even though the majority surveyed favored gay marriage by a margin of 51 percent to 43 percent, according to a Los Angeles Times/University of Southern California poll in Nov. 2009.
“Many people I know who support the gay community and their endeavors still voted yes on 8 because they were confused,” said Shawn Rivin, a second-year computer information systems student. “Accurate information needs to be given. Legalizing same-sex marriage has nothing to do with children, schools, or churches, but the extensive “Yes on 8” campaigns made it seem like all three were core issues.”
The largest religious support of Prop 8 in the 2009 election came from the Mormon Church, which contributed between 33 and 40 percent of the total amount raised in support of Proposition 8, according to the Associated Press.
Many in support of Prop. 8 have strong ties to religious organizations, since homosexuality is regarded as a “sin” by many religions.
“It’s taking a [union] and calling it marriage that really bothers me,” said Will Pfeffer, a fifth-year construction engineering technology student and a core leader for Campus Crusade for Christ. “If it had a different title, then I would support that.”
Pfeffer said he believes the outcome of the trial could have wider implications than just disagreeing with personal taste.
“It’s going to really affect a lot more Christian groups than people realize,” he said. “It will limit Christians with practicing their religion openly. It would be going against people’s freedom of religion.”
There was much debate over whether the initiative should be put on the 2010 or 2012 ballot since there was much uncertainty about whether the $40 million needed could be raised in a political off-year and there were similar doubts regarding the recruitment of a sufficient amount of volunteers.
The initiative will be seen on November’s ballot if enough valid signatures are collected.
Reach Stephanie Fehrmann at: news@thepolypost.com
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