I'm ecstatic that Prop 8 has been ruled unconstitutional. However...

[Cant trust em]

as a life-long Californian, I'm still pissed off that the state voted this law in in the first place. I guess in my heart I really wanted homophobia and bigotry to be solely owned by other states. I'm still pretty embarrassed by my state sometimes.

[TommyO]

1. Don't worry, we know it wasn't the majority of Californians that voted for inequality

just a majority of the people who voted in that election.

[Jennicut]

2. It has to be in the courts, it is the way to making it legalized.

Civil rights for African-Americans faced the same problem. The public takes awhile to catch up sometimes, but the younger generations are more accepting then the older ones are.

[Tempest]

3. Gay marriage will be the law of the land before you know it

Every year more and more older, bigoted voters are dying and more and more young people are coming of voting age.

Young people support gay marriage by a wide margin.

[EFerrari]

4. We need to clean up our voting systems.

Esp in LA County, where legislation wins or loses. And if you remember, LA County was a horrible mess even in the presidential primaries.

[mike_c]

5. people tend to forget how conservative much of California is....

After all, it's the state that gave us Nixon and Reagan. I was shocked into this realization during the 2004 presidential election when I watched the county map turn steadily red over most of the interior. Most of the coastal counties were blue, and that's where the majority of voters live, but there is nonetheless a STRONG conservative/republican character in the majority of the state's counties.

2004 county electoral map (blue = Kerry, red = Bush):

[Initech]

9. Orange County especially.

There were literally hundreds of pro-8 sings all over the streets, it was pretty revolting.

[Cant trust em]

12. It looks a lot like the US electoral map in 2004.

I must admit that I'm a coastal California liberal. It's a nice little bubble.

[KansDem]

6. As I recall, there was much money coming from out of state to fund Prop. 8

When the state Supreme Court overturned Proposition 22's ban on same-sex unions, it opened the way for "nationwide legal chaos" and allowed gay rights groups "to force their radical redefinition of marriage upon the nation," according to a statement from the California Family Council, one of the supporters of Prop. 8.

The outside money is arriving in supersized chunks. Focus on the Family, a Colorado Springs group headed by James Dobson, has given more than $400,000 to the Prop. 8 campaign. The American Family Association, out of Tupelo, Miss., has contributed $500,000. The Knights of Columbus, a national Catholic men's organization headquartered in New Haven, Conn., has put $250,000 into the campaign.

The opponents also have cast a national net for donors. The Human Rights Campaign, which works for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender rights out of its Washington headquarters, has raised more than $570,000 for the fight against Prop. 8. Another Washington group, the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, has given $200,000. David Maltz, a Cleveland businessman, has donated $500,000 to the anti-Prop. 8 effort.

sfgate

You had money coming from out of state for both sides. However, reasoned folks would tend to side with the group wanting equality over the group demanding inequality...

[Initech]

7. Oh believe me I spent that entire election night celebrating and cursing at the same time.

I despise bigotry, especially of the religious variety. And prop-(h)8 was definitely religiously motivated.

[ourbluenation]

14. me too. it was a bittersweet night for sure. n/t

[Forkboy]

8. I live in Mass. We elected Scott Brown.

I think you're off the hook as far as embarrassment goes. ;)

[TK421]

11. I hear you....PA had to deal with Santorum n/t

[lunatica]

10. The problem is that it's been a voting issue at all

It isn't a fucking political issue. Period.

[Cant trust em]

15. Many people, when asked, said no. That's what I have my problem with. nt

[Nye Bevan]

13. It sucks that mixed-race marriage used to be illegal

Good to see things moving in the right direction.

[Arugula Latte]

16. I'm disappointed/embarrassed that Oregon voted it down too.

Come on. Blue coastal states should be more advanced.

My only consolation is that every day thousands of anti-gay bigots kick the bucket and the generations coming up are much more enlightened when it comes to equal right.

[NMMNG]

17. I'm still disgusted anybody thinks

it's proper to put our civil rights to a popular vote. What other minority group over the course of history has ever been subjected to such indignity?

[4lbs]

18. 4 counties in CA, all heavily GOP, made up almost the entire amount of the vote differential.

Prop H8 passed by about 600,000 votes. 7 Million in favor, with 6.4 million against.

http://www.sos.ca.gov/elections/sov/2008_general/


Those 600,000 votes came from Riverside, San Bernardino, Kern, and Orange counties, which are heavily GOP in voter registration. If you sum up the vote differentials in those 4, it comes to over 600,000.

Prop 8 votes in 2008 (rounded to nearest 1,000):

Orange --> 659,000 YES to 484,000 NO. Differential of 175,000 in favor of Prop 8.

Kern --> 175,000 YES to 57,000 NO. Differential of 118,000 in favor of Prop 8.

Riverside --> 417,000 YES to 228,000 NO. Differential of 189,000 in favor of Prop 8.

San Bernardino -> 405,000 YES to 201,000 NO. Differential of 204,000 in favor of Prop 8.

3 of the 4 counties had at least a 60-40 margin in favor of Prop 8.

You'll also notice that these 4 are geographically touching each other in the "central" part of CA.

[Ruby the Liberal]

19. At least you all got it on the ballot

Cali leads the nation in much reform and many mindset changes.