# CA/AZ/FL Gay Marriage Balloting Reaction Thread **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [November 4, 2008, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ca-az-fl-gay-marriage-balloting-reaction-thread/471073 "2008-11-04T16:40:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![Antinor01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecae2f/32.png) [@Antinor01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antinor01)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2008, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ca-az-fl-gay-marriage-balloting-reaction-thread/471073/121 "2008-11-05T14:40:30Z")
I was hoping it would flip by the time I got up, but it’s still passing by like 400,000 votes and it looks like most of the precincts yet to report are in counties where it’s passing by wide margins. I’m thrilled about most of the election results this year, but this puts a definite damper on the happy I had going on last night. ---
**Author:** ![Karyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/fbc32d/32.png) [@Karyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Karyn)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2008, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ca-az-fl-gay-marriage-balloting-reaction-thread/471073/122 "2008-11-05T15:00:34Z")
I suppose that I should be at least a little bit proud of my county because it lost by a landslide here but that’s not much consolation. I was so optimistic but given that we’re somewhat to the left of Berkeley I shouldn’t be so shocked. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2008, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ca-az-fl-gay-marriage-balloting-reaction-thread/471073/123 "2008-11-05T15:03:57Z")
Let’s keep in mind that prop 22 passed 8 years ago with a 61% majority. If prop 8 passes with just 52%, that’s a big shift. It shouldn’t take much longer to get 3% more in the “no” column. ---
**Author:** ![Ensign\_Edison](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7ab992/32.png) [@Ensign\_Edison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ensign_Edison)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2008, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ca-az-fl-gay-marriage-balloting-reaction-thread/471073/124 "2008-11-05T15:22:20Z")
I don’t understand why everyone who supported the candidate who thinks gay people should not get married because God doesn’t like it is surprised at this. ---
**Author:** ![want2know](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/50afbb/32.png) [@want2know](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/want2know)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2008, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ca-az-fl-gay-marriage-balloting-reaction-thread/471073/125 "2008-11-05T16:14:05Z")
The results in the other states didn’t surprise me, but California? I know there are still a lot of social conservatives there, but I truly expected it to go the other way. Well, hopefully this injustice can be corrected someday soon–I’ve read that it can be voted on again in 2010. Maybe this time, the pro-GM forces can initiate it and make it an amendment against discrimination rather than a referendum on so-called “family values.” I have one question, though. What happens to all the couples who married during the window in which it was legal? According to [this article](http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122586056759900673.html?mod=special_page_campaign2008_mostpop), their marriages will remain legal, though the possibility of lawsuits to overturn those marriages’ validity looms large. And when exactly will this take effect? If it becomes law on Jan. 1, can gays across the state rush to marry before then? And is there still the possibility of a lawsuit to overturn the results on the basis of discrimination? Example: let’s say a random state decides to place a measure on the ballot defining marriage as a union between a man and a woman of the same race? And let’s say further that by some chance, the electorate passes it? It would never survive a court challenge–so why should this? I know that’s an extreme example, but, to my mind, discrimination is discrimination. ---
**Author:** ![FlightlessBird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/cdc98d/32.png) [@FlightlessBird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlightlessBird)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2008, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ca-az-fl-gay-marriage-balloting-reaction-thread/471073/126 "2008-11-05T16:41:02Z")
_sigh_ In 1992, Coloradans voted for “Amendment 2” which established an amendment to the Colorado state constitution that prevented any city, town or county in the state from taking any legislative, executive, or judicial action to protect homosexual citizens from discrimination on the basis of their sexual orientation. So you could fire someone from their job “because he was gay”. You could evict someone from your property, etc. etc. 4 years later the US Supreme Court voted 6-3 that Amendment 2 was unconstitutional. I don’t know if this is the right thread to post this, but it makes me see a glimmer of hope from this mess. [read the wiki about it](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romer_v._Evans) ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2008, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ca-az-fl-gay-marriage-balloting-reaction-thread/471073/127 "2008-11-05T16:45:16Z")
I’ve seen numbers that suggest that minority voting helped push Prop 8 over the top. > [@Byron York](#): > > According to exit polls, whites opposed the amendment 53-47. But blacks supported it 70-30, and Latinos supported it 51-49. The polls have blacks at 10 percent of the electorate for this issue, with Latinos at 19 percent and whites at 63 percent. (Asians, at six percent, opposed the proposition 53-47.) I suppose this shouldn’t be too much of a surprise; we hear quite a bit about social conservatism among those two ethnicities, partly due to their religious beliefs. Perhaps President Obama may help ease this, at least among African-Americans? ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2008, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ca-az-fl-gay-marriage-balloting-reaction-thread/471073/128 "2008-11-05T16:48:27Z")
> [@FlightlessBird](#): > > _sigh_ > > In 1992, Coloradans voted for “Amendment 2” which established an amendment to the Colorado state constitution that prevented any city, town or county in the state from taking any legislative, executive, or judicial action to protect homosexual citizens from discrimination on the basis of their sexual orientation. > > So you could fire someone from their job “because he was gay”. You could evict someone from your property, etc. etc. > > 4 years later the US Supreme Court voted 6-3 that Amendment 2 was unconstitutional. > > I don’t know if this is the right thread to post this, but it makes me see a glimmer of hope from this mess. > > [read the wiki about it](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romer_v._Evans) That was, unfortunately, a different SC. I’m not optimistic that the current court would do anything about this. And we’re not really looking at all that likely a changeover in court makeup during even 8 years of an Obama administration. The oldest justices are the liberals. The oldest conservative justice is Scalia and he’s only 70-something. It’s not like the Supreme Court is a horribly taxing position…an 80-year-old whose mind is still sharp is just as capable of doing it as a 50-year-old. Electing Obama was important in re the Court because it at least allows us to keep the current status quo of a liberal/conservative split (with Kennedy the swing vote) when Ginsberg and Stevens retire (as is likely to happen in the next four years) instead of seeing those positions filled by more Alito-likes. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2008, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ca-az-fl-gay-marriage-balloting-reaction-thread/471073/129 "2008-11-05T16:51:08Z")
> [@want2know](#): > > The results in the other states didn’t surprise me, but California? I know there are still a lot of social conservatives there, but I truly expected it to go the other way. Well, hopefully this injustice can be corrected someday soon–I’ve read that it can be voted on again in 2010. Maybe this time, the pro-GM forces can initiate it and make it an amendment against discrimination rather than a referendum on so-called “family values.” . It’s ignorance which was preyed upon by some well-done ads. They had a slew of ads which more or less showed that your kids would catch" teh gay" if Gay marriage was allowed.:rolleyes: However, idiots who did things like taught Gay marriage to 2nd graders and took kids on field trips to gay marriages were a proximate cause. The USA is teetering on the edge of acceptance of Gay marriage, this is not the time to push it. Idiots like Mayor Newson of SF aren’t helping at all. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2008, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ca-az-fl-gay-marriage-balloting-reaction-thread/471073/130 "2008-11-05T17:06:24Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > It’s ignorance which was preyed upon by some well-done ads. They had a slew of ads which more or less showed that your kids would catch" teh gay" if Gay marriage was allowed.:rolleyes: > > However, idiots who did things like taught Gay marriage to 2nd graders and took kids on field trips to gay marriages were a proximate cause. The USA is teetering on the edge of acceptance of Gay marriage, this is not the time to push it. Idiots like Mayor Newson of SF aren’t helping at all. True. I understand that footage of Newsom saying smugly, “It’s gonna happen – whether you like it or not…” in reference to same-sex marriage was a centerpiece of the Yes-On-8 crowd… and apparently was quite effective as an ad. I wonder how Newsom feels now? ---
**Author:** ![jellyblue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e480ec/32.png) [@jellyblue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jellyblue)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2008, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ca-az-fl-gay-marriage-balloting-reaction-thread/471073/131 "2008-11-05T17:08:59Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > Now, the messy process of sorting out the legal status of all those SSMs that have already be performed. I know I’m looking forward to being all KINDS of difficult about it. I guess a plurality of Californians have proven that if you are ridiculous enough to want to cram toothpaste back into a tube, it can be done. I’m beyond disgusted.:mad: ---
**Author:** ![Antinor01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecae2f/32.png) [@Antinor01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antinor01)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2008, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ca-az-fl-gay-marriage-balloting-reaction-thread/471073/132 "2008-11-05T17:13:47Z")
> [@jellyblue](#): > > I know I’m looking forward to being all KINDS of difficult about it. > > I guess a plurality of Californians have proven that if you are ridiculous enough to want to cram toothpaste back into a tube, it can be done. I’m beyond disgusted.:mad: I’m really sorry **Jellyblue** , as horrible as this is for us that were planning marriage I know it’s that much worse for you that already have them and might lose them. As deep a depression as I’m feeling this morning I’ve got to believe that we will win in the end. We must never give up. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2008, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ca-az-fl-gay-marriage-balloting-reaction-thread/471073/133 "2008-11-05T17:25:51Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > True. I understand that footage of Newsom saying smugly, “It’s gonna happen – whether you like it or not…” in reference to same-sex marriage was a centerpiece of the Yes-On-8 crowd… and apparently was quite effective as an ad. > > I wonder how Newsom feels now? Yes, Newsom gave the Yes on 8 folks quite a bit of ammo there. The bill may have failed without Newsom’s “help”. Idiot. And before dudes come here and say all the Yes votes were by bigots- CA voted 61% Obama, only 37% McCain. The vote on prop 8 was/is quite close, maybe 54% Yes. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2008, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ca-az-fl-gay-marriage-balloting-reaction-thread/471073/134 "2008-11-05T17:41:06Z")
As I said in the other thread, I’m very sorry for those of you whose marriages will be invalidated or jeopardized. My partner and I went to Massachusetts instead of California because of 8. I told her, though, that if Massachusetts annuls the marriages at some point, we’re going somewhere where the entire country recognizes SSM for the next ceremony. I’m sick of this bullshit. ---
**Author:** ![jellyblue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e480ec/32.png) [@jellyblue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jellyblue)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2008, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ca-az-fl-gay-marriage-balloting-reaction-thread/471073/135 "2008-11-05T18:16:14Z")
Thanks for the kind sentiments. I’m so depressed, though, and I don’t want to be. I want to be happy because Obama won, and I am, but I can’t shake feeling like I just found out everybody at work who I smile and say hi to everyday has been secretly hating me. I wonder how all those people who talk about “sanctity of marriage” would feel if they knew they could wake up one morning and be no longer married because a bunch of people said so. It’s really hard, as a citizen, to give back to society when this is how they feel about you. ---
**Author:** ![ashenRiot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/65b543/32.png) [@ashenRiot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ashenRiot)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2008, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ca-az-fl-gay-marriage-balloting-reaction-thread/471073/136 "2008-11-05T18:20:16Z")
This may seem naive but i really don’t understand why gay marriage or civil unions is such a big evil? It doesn’t affect heteros in any way that i can see… so why do they care??? please fight my ignorance… ---
**Author:** ![jellyblue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e480ec/32.png) [@jellyblue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jellyblue)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2008, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ca-az-fl-gay-marriage-balloting-reaction-thread/471073/137 "2008-11-05T18:21:33Z")
We are sick and will infect your children if allowed to live our lives free of discrimination.:rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![want2know](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/50afbb/32.png) [@want2know](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/want2know)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2008, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ca-az-fl-gay-marriage-balloting-reaction-thread/471073/138 "2008-11-05T18:25:57Z")
> [@ashenRiot](#): > > This may seem naive but i really don’t understand why gay marriage or civil unions is such a big evil? It doesn’t affect heteros in any way that i can see… so why do they care??? > > please fight my ignorance… They care because if gay marriage/civil union is legally sanctioned, the ignorant among us feel that that abrogates their right to teach their children that homosexuality is evil and wrong. Pretty much the same argument the “States’ Rights” factions used to fight civil rights legislation. ---
**Author:** ![myskepticsight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/cc9497/32.png) [@myskepticsight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/myskepticsight)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2008, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ca-az-fl-gay-marriage-balloting-reaction-thread/471073/139 "2008-11-05T18:27:21Z")
> [@ashenRiot](#): > > This may seem naive but i really don’t understand why gay marriage or civil unions is such a big evil? It doesn’t affect heteros in any way that i can see… so why do they care??? > > please fight my ignorance… Their religious beliefs tell them being gay is wrong. And they actually believe it. Or just ignorance. Think all gay people are fuck machines, not real people just like them. That they are all horny maniacs with disease that molest kids and want to turn other people gay, as if it even works that way, which it doesn’t. All sorts of stupid shit. ---
**Author:** ![jackdavinci](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackdavinci/32/3259_2.png) [@jackdavinci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackdavinci)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2008, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ca-az-fl-gay-marriage-balloting-reaction-thread/471073/140 "2008-11-05T18:32:11Z")
> [@ashenRiot](#): > > This may seem naive but i really don’t understand why gay marriage or civil unions is such a big evil? It doesn’t affect heteros in any way that i can see… so why do they care??? > > please fight my ignorance… If we let gays marry then soon people will want to marry goats. Then nobody will take marriage seriously anymore and heteros will all become sluts, wife beaters, and absentee fathers. Plus, heteros have the copyright/trademark on “marriage”. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ca-az-fl-gay-marriage-balloting-reaction-thread/471073.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ca-az-fl-gay-marriage-balloting-reaction-thread/471073.md?page=8)