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The fight will just continue to an inevitable victory for equal rights for same sex couples. Santa Clara county where prop 8 was crushed by a 10 point margin is 'Silicon Valley'. This issue will be resolved in favor of equality over time.<br><br>-Scott<br><br>> Date: Wed, 5 Nov 2008 08:10:16 -0800<br>> From: chasuk@gmail.com<br>> To: vision2020@moscow.com<br>> Subject: [Vision2020] Very Sad News: California voters approve constitutional ban on same-sex marriage<br>> <br>> http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_10901475?source=most_emailed<br>> <br>> After an intense campaign that cost more than $75 million,<br>> California's voters have approved a constitutional ban on same-sex<br>> marriage, dealing a huge blow to the gay rights movement and likely<br>> setting the stage for another round of court battles over the volatile<br>> issue.<br>> <br>> While the Yes on 8 campaign claimed victory just before midnight, the<br>> numbers continued to play out in their favor this morning. Still,<br>> advocates of same-sex marriage had clung to hopes that a surge of<br>> support from uncounted votes could still overcome the ban.<br>> <br>> But this morning, with 95 percent of precincts reporting, the measure<br>> passed with 52 percent in favor, and 47.9 percent opposed. There are<br>> an untold number of absentee and provisional ballots left to be<br>> counted, according to the Associated Press, but it will be hard to<br>> overcome the 5 percent margin. "I think the story is that a strong<br>> majority of Californians support traditional marriage and they want to<br>> see it protected," said Frank Schubert, manager of the Yes on 8<br>> campaign. "I think the story is we ran a far better campaign than the<br>> other side. I think we had 100,000 people that gave of their resources<br>> and their time."<br>> <br>> The measure trims the number of states in which gays and lesbians can<br>> legally marry from three to two. But in striking the most populous and<br>> culturally influential state from that list, social conservatives and<br>> religious leaders have scored a much broader victory, likely limiting<br>> for years the hopes of gay rights leaders to allow same-sex couples to<br>> marry across the United States.<br>> <br>> For same-sex marriage supporters, it was a bitter loss, after major<br>> polls had consistently shown the measure losing through the fall.<br>> <br>> In San Jose, Ronni Pahl, a member of one of the first two same-sex<br>> couples married in Santa Clara County, watched the returns with her<br>> wife, Hannah, and son Isaiah with a potent mix of emotion.<br>> <br>> "It's bittersweet right now because we just watched the first<br>> African-American president elected. We were watching it with our<br>> African-American son, there were tears coming out of our eyes, and we<br>> went to look at what's happening at 8," Pahl said. "We're speechless<br>> right now."<br>> <br>> In Santa Clara County, Proposition 8 was soundly defeated, losing by a<br>> 10 percent margin. The measure also trailed in Alameda, San Mateo and<br>> Santa Cruz counties, as well as in San Francisco.<br>> <br>> But as election evening wore on, that opposition was overwhelmed by<br>> more conservative areas of the state, particularly in the inland<br>> counties. The same-sex marriage ban had attracted more than 60 percent<br>> of the vote in Riverside County, and two-thirds of the vote in San<br>> Joaquin County, with more than half of precincts reporting in those<br>> counties.<br>> <br>> And despite the decisive win of Democratic nominee Barack Obama, in<br>> California and the rest of the country, polls were wrong in another<br>> way: They had predicted that the tide of Obama voters would block<br>> Proposition 8 from passing. But even in Santa Clara County, Obama<br>> captured a much higher share of the vote than the proportion who voted<br>> against Proposition 8.<br>> <br>> Schubert said the Yes on 8 campaign never trusted the polls.<br>> <br>> "We've always felt that if we were tied going into Election Day, or a<br>> few points behind, we were going to win," he said. The decision "is<br>> something that I think will reverberate across the nation and around<br>> the world."<br>> <br>> While the new constitutional ban goes into effect immediately, it's<br>> less clear what the effect will be on same-sex couples who married<br>> from June 16 through Tuesday. While Attorney General Jerry Brown has<br>> said he does not believe Proposition 8 is retroactive, that issue is<br>> likely to wind up back in the courts, as well as an anticipated<br>> challenge to whether it is constitutional for California to revive its<br>> ban on same-sex marriage.<br>> <br>> The race began to tighten when the Yes on 8 campaign began running ads<br>> that suggested that churches could lose their tax-exempt status if<br>> clergy refused to do gay weddings and that second-graders would be<br>> taught about gay marriage.<br>> <br>> The figurehead of those ads: San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom,<br>> proclaiming in a speech that gay marriage was now legal in California<br>> "whether you like it or not."<br>> <br>> Yes on 8 supporters were feeling confident Tuesday night, even as the<br>> polls began to close.<br>> <br>> "The momentum has really been with us," said Chip White, the press<br>> secretary for the Yes on 8 campaign. "The trend has been in our<br>> direction ever since we went with that Gavin Newsom ad on Sept. 29."<br>> <br>> David McCuan, a political-science professor at Sonoma State<br>> University, said the move to victory for the Yes on 8 campaign might<br>> have begun here, when a campaign pushing for passage of an initiative<br>> began to behave like a classic "No" campaign — by injecting doubt<br>> about the effect of a proposed "change" into the minds of voters.<br>> <br>> Because gay marriage was so new in California, it allowed Yes on 8<br>> campaign manager Frank Schubert to operate as if what was technically<br>> the status quo was actually a proposed change, and trying to inject<br>> doubt into the minds of voters about that "change."<br>> <br>> Schubert "essentially ran a No side campaign on the Yes side of this<br>> ballot measure and that has made it more sophisticated and less<br>> faith-based message," McCuan said.<br>> <br>> Given Obama's victory, "it's a stunning, stinging defeat," McCuan<br>> said. "This is a Democratic blue wave and standing out in one of the<br>> bluest of the blue states is this huge red result."<br>> <br>> =======================================================<br>> List services made available by First Step Internet, <br>> serving the communities of the Palouse since 1994. <br>> http://www.fsr.net <br>> mailto:Vision2020@moscow.com<br>> =======================================================<br><br /><hr />Stay up to date on your PC, the Web, and your mobile phone with Windows Live <a href='http://clk.atdmt.com/MRT/go/119462413/direct/01/' target='_new'>Click here</a></body>
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