Prop. 8 draws national attention

By Greg Mellen, Staff writer
Article Launched: 11/04/2008 11:23:26 AM PST


LONG BEACH - The nation was keeping an eye trained on California as Proposition 8, the state initiative that would ban same-sex marriages, hit the polls.

The run-up to Election Day saw both sides of the issue hammering away at each other on the airwaves with advertising expected to top $70 million.

Across the state Saturday and Sunday, groups on both sides of the issue gathered for rallies, while in religious communities reverends, priests, rabbis and imams stated their cases.

In Long Beach, about 400 Proposition 8 opponents gathered at Bixby Park for a rally concluded by a same-sex marriage ceremony.

Meanwhile, across town at the Traffic Circle, about two dozen supporters of the initiative gathered and waved signs urging motorists to honk their approval.

Proposition 8, which would change the state consitution to define marriage as being between a man and a woman only, has been an incendiary, divisive and highly politicized measure since its inception.

On Election Day, little had changed.

Although the measure has been on the losing side of most polls, many have showed it surging lately.

The latest nonpartisan Field Poll, showed voters rejecting the proposition 44 percent to 49 percent, but that's a 6 percent switch since September when the measure trailed 38 percent to 55 percent. The remaining 7 percent was undecided.

The Public Policy Institute of California found Proposition 8 losing 52 percent to 44 percent, although that showed a 3 point swing from September when the measure was failing 55 percent to 41 percent.
Meanwhile, the California Majority Report on Oct. 17 said the SurveyUSA poll had Prop 8 ahead 48-45.

The reports had 2 to 4 point margins of error and undecided voters making the measure a toss-up entering the polls.

Long Beach activist and radio personality Karel Bouley, the host of the Karel Show on KGO and known for his incendiary commentary, said he wasn't surprised at the late rally.

"Why would I be surprised with all the money that's going in," Karel, who goes by his first name professionally, said of the pro-Prop 8 surge. "Where money goes in, idiots will follow."

Karel says the issue isn't about marriage at all but about basic constitutional notions of equality.

"They're thinking of removing equal protection under the law from the constitution," Karel says of proponents of the law. "I think our founders would be turning over."

Some proponents of the measure remained stung by the vitriol.

James George, an Alamitos Heights homeowner who had several signs favoring the measure swiped from his yard, said he has been surprised the vehemence of the opposition.

But he remains steadfast.

"I am a Christian, and it is stated in the Bible that marriage is between a man and a woman, period," George says.

He also is persuaded by the argument that same-sex marriage will be taught in schools.

In an earlier interview, George Fessler, executive pastor at Life Center Church in Lakewood, told the Press-Telegram he wants to see California return to a traditional definition of marriage.

"Domestic partnerships have all of the rights and benefits of marriage relationships," he said, "but to call it marriage historically, and from a faith perspective, obviously, it's inappropriate."

Still troubling to many, even at the polls was lingering confusion about what yes and no votes meant.

San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown was reported to err recently when talking about the issue and appealing for the importance of protecting the rights of same-sex couples with a "yes" vote.

Brown intended to urge a "no" vote.

Observers on both sides of Proposition 8 worry voters will be confused by a choice in which a no vote means yes to gay marriage and a yes means no to gay marriage.

Opponents have tried to reframe the issue with, among other strategies, an advertisement in which Senator Dianne Feinstein urges voting no to discrimination.

Karel said he thought the courts and society had moved beyond Proposition 8.

"It worries me that we live in an atmosphere where we still have this debate," he said.

In 2000, more than 60 percent of California voters voted for Proposition 22, which defined marriage as between a man and woman, but it was overturned by the state Supreme Court.