I was born in California 58 years ago yesterday and I've lived there off and on for about four years during that time. I like the state, mostly; it's got Yosemite, San Francisco, the Dodgers, the Pacific Coast Highway, a bunch of great universities, and some of my family members as residents.
Nonetheless, when it votes to take away citizens' rights based on nothing more than anti-Other bigotry funded by a mostly out-of-state church's campaign, I'm ashamed of it.
Who the hell does gay marriage harm? What evil does it do that it should be banned and 18,000 couples' marriages be thrown into uncertainty?
Thanks for the help taking the Presidency for Obama, Californians; you've still got some work to do.
Footnote: If this ad didn't sway you, I can only conclude you didn't see it.
Update: This really says it all.
"There's something deeply wrong with putting the rights of a minority up to a majority vote," said Evan Wolfson, a gay-rights lawyer who heads a group called Freedom to Marry. "If this were being done to almost any other minority, people would see how un-American this is."Posted by Linkmeister at November 5, 2008 02:29 PM | TrackBack
I didn't see the ad because I don't watch television (ads being one reason why). I voted no on it anyway. It was all you say.
The good news is that Prop. 8 passed with a much smaller margin that the last attempt to restrict marriage to heterosexuals. There's also the question of how many people thought that voting yes on 8 was supporting same-sex marriage. (I don't see how you could have made that mistake, but I follow politics more closely than some.)
Slowly, the tide is turning; we aren't there yet, but it's coming. Prop. 8 is already being challenged in court. Some day a same-sex marriage issue will pass.
Posted by: hedera at November 6, 2008 07:48 PM