The Proposition 8 aftermath

November 9, 6:21 PMProgressive Politics ExaminerJay McDonough

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California Proposition 8, a referendum on same sex marriages, passed on Tuesday and the state constitution will now be amended to ban marriages of homosexual couples in California.  Reaction to the loss has been swift and startling.   Lawsuits, confusion, and now anger.  Over 20,000 protesters gathered last night in several California cities, now critical of the No on 8 campaign strategies and denouncing the Mormon church for their intensive involvement in the defeat of the initiative.  More protests are planned for today.

Steve Ramos, 46, of Los Angeles carried a banner through the streets of Silver Lake with the spray-painted words "Teach tolerance, not hate."

Supporters of the ballot proposition, he said, mixed "religion with politics" and missed the main point. "Everyone should have equal rights."

(Robin) Tyler expressed frustration over the leadership of the unsuccessful campaign to defeat the ballot measure and lashed out at those who supported it.  "The No on 8 people didn't want us to use the word 'bigots.' But that's what they are, bigots, bigots, bigots," Tyler said, bringing a round of cheers from the growing crowd. "We will never be made invisible again. Never again will we let them define who we are." (Link)

Out of state Mormons contributed millions of dollars to the Yes on 8 campaign and thousands of Mormons worked as grass roots volunteers.  A backlash against the church is emerging.

For the Mormon Church, it threatens a PR nightmare. The gay rights lobby boasts scores of prominent celebrity supporters who have already pledged vociferous support to the campaign to overturn Proposition 8.

The country music singer Melissa Etheridge, a prominent lesbian, announced yesterday that she will refuse to pay income tax until she's "allowed the same rights" as other taxpayers. Instead, she pledged to donate money to legal challenges arguing that the way Proposition 8 was put to the voters was unconstitutional.

The Mormon Church is in damage limitation mode. "No one on either side of the question should be vilified, harassed or subject to erroneous information," it said in a statement. (Link)

The Mormon's heavy involvement in Proposition 8 is leading some to call for a boycott of Utah, home of the Church of Latter Day Saints. 

Utah's growing tourism industry and the star-studded Sundance Film Festival are being targeted for a boycott by bloggers, gay rights activists and others seeking to punish the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for its aggressive promotion of California's ban on gay marriage.

It could be a heavy price to pay. Tourism brings in $6 billion a year to Utah, with world-class skiing, spectacular red-rock country and the film festival founded by Robert Redford among popular tourist draws. (Link)

This is missing the mark here.  Utah is not the Mormon church and the Mormon church is not Utah.  But there may be something that comes, in and of itself, from the threat of a boycott.

As recently as 1967, many states, with great public support, had laws on the books banning interracial marriage.  It seems unfathomable now that that kind of bigotry existed only 40 years ago.  Yet, it took a U.S. Supreme Court decision (Loving vs. Virginia) to finally rule those bans on interracial marriages were unconstitutional.

Civil rights are nearly always gained with the convergence of several different factors; the publics awakened awareness of bigotry, the resulting shame, and a subsequent, innate desire to rise above that bigotry and right the wrong.   And just like the case of interracial marriage, the public consensus will surely evolve to an acceptance that allowing gays and lesbians the benefits and joy of making that binding marital commitment is a most fundamental right, and should not only be allowed, but encouraged in a society that values family and fidelity.

So, perhaps something good can come from the defeat of Proposition 8.   Maybe protests and boycott threats are what it takes for a not quite yet aware electorate to understand that when liberty is denied to some, it's a stain on our national character.  There's a clear trend - same sex marriage will be legal.  It can happen soon.  Or it can happen a little later.  But it will happen.