What is Proposition 8?

Posted by SMandarino

May 26, 2009

no-prop-8 If you live anywhere right of the left coast, give yourself props if you are fully versed on Proposition 8. As it is commonly known, Proposition 8 is the California constitutional ban on same-sex marriage that narrowly passed statewide vote on November 4, 2008, the same day we elected our new President. The controversial initiative added the following 14 words to the California state constitution: “Only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California.” (Editor’s note: to avoid confusion, those “For” or “Vote Yes” on Prop 8 are AGAINST same-sex marriage, and vice versa.)

yes-prop-8 On March 5, 2009, the California Supreme Court heard arguments on six lawsuits seeking to invalidate Proposition 8. The Court will announce its decision today, and the stakes are high. If Proposition 8 is upheld, the 18,000 or so same-sex marriages that took place in California prior to November 4, 2008 stand to be overturned. More notably, the ruling would be a resounding victory for those in support of traditional marriage, while simultaneously striking a serious blow to the gay and lesbian movement. Should the proposition be overturned, however, California will join Vermont, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Connecticut and Iowa as the sixth state to permit same-sex marriage, and some commentators believe that a defeat of California’s Proposition 8 will elevate the same-sex marriage movement to a national initiative.

milk poster In an interesting corollary, Proposition 8 retraces ground covered in the 2008 Academy Award-nominated movie Milk. The film documents the shortened life of Harvey Milk, a “community organizer” who became the first openly-gay public official when he was elected to San Francisco’s city council. Though he had been in office a mere ten months, in 1978 Milk led a grassroots campaign against the passage of Proposition 6, a California ballot measure aimed at preventing gay people and supporters from working as teachers in public schools. The initiative was soundly defeated. Three weeks later, however, Milk and then mayor George Moscone were assassinated at city hall. In the film, Sean Penn portrayed Milk and later earned an Academy Award for the role.