The Real Losers of November 4th

(The following is the rough copy of my article on same-sex marriage propositions which will run in the Technician later this week.. Enjoy..)

Last Tuesday saw the election of America’s first African American President. But along with a great step forward on race relations, social progress was not universally embraced.

California Proposition 8, Arizona Proposition 102 and Florida Amendment 2 eliminated the possibility of same-sex marriages in those respective states. Each state’s ballot measure allowed the voters to formally define the definition of marriage.

The California Proposition was listed on the ballots as “[an elimination of the] Right of Same-Sex Couples to Marry.” Similar wording was used on the Arizona and Florida measures.

As of today, including the results from Nov. 4, twenty-eight states have banned gay marriage with amendments to their state’s Constitution.

Another twenty states have statutory laws in place which follow the federal Defense of Marriage Act of 1996. A law passed by over 80 percent of both houses of Congress and signed into law by President Clinton.

“DOMA” has two provisions involving same-sex marriage. The first provision provides that no state must allow a relationship between persons of the same-sex as a marriage, even if the relationship is considered a marriage in another state.

The second provision further states that the Federal Government will not treat any same-sex marriage as legitimate under any circumstance.

Across the nation billions of dollars were spent on the election. What may come as a surprise to many is that after the presidential election, the campaign with the second highest spending was not an election at all.

Proponents of California Proposition 8 garnered over 37.5 million dollars in the campaign for the measure; the opposition was able to spend almost 36 million dollars.

Despite a substantial public outcry from the LGBT communities in several states, most notably in California where protests and rallies have been held over the past week, all three measures passed with quite substantial majorities.

In Florida, where an amendment to the state Constitution requires 60 percent voter approval, the resolution was passed by 62.1 percent according to the Florida Department of Elections.

The residents of Arizona passed Proposition 102 by more than 56 percent and the residents of California raised Proposition 8 to California Constitutional status by over 400,000 votes.

Arkansas which already had a law banning gay marriage took other steps against same-sex couples. In a proposition approved by voters, only married couples may adopt or become foster parents.

Now, the only two states that still allow same-sex marriage are Connecticut and Massachusetts. Yet, under DOMA those marriages are only valid within those respective states.

As to the more than 18,000 California couples who were legally married prior to Nov. 4? According to California Attorney General Jerry Brown “marriages that have been entered into subsequent to the May 15 Supreme Court opinion will be recognized.”

In 1948 California Supreme Court found that miscegenation laws were illegal, claiming that “[marriage] is a fundamental right of free men.” Sixty years later 52 percent of California voters decided that it is not a fundamental right for all men.

Yet still, even California’s Republican Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has words of hope “I learned that you should never ever give up. . . . They should never give up. They should be on it and on it until they get it done.”