The Price Of Prop. 8

This article posted on October 22nd, 2009, written by Thomas Messner, explains many effects of Proposition 8. Supporters of Proposition 8 in California have been subjected to harassment, intimidation, vandalism, racial scapegoating, blacklisting, loss of employment, economic hardships, angry protests, violence, at least one death threat, and gross expressions of anti-religious bigotry. Arguments for same-sex marriage are based fundamentally on the idea that limiting marriage to the union of husband and wife is a form of bigotry, irrational prejudice, and even hatred against homosexual persons. As this ideology seeps into the culture more generally, individuals and institutions that support marriage as the union of husband and wife risk paying a price for that belief in many legal, social, economic, and cultural contexts.


When I read this article I Felt ashamed that people against felt the extreme need to lash out against people who are for it. I read about quite a few events of vandalism and similar crimes and it reminded me of the horror stories of Halloween. The ones where random teenager keys your car, or eggs your house. But these acts are real, they have happened and continue to happen. It made me think about why people would do such things and the article states it is becuase they believe Prop 8 is hateful and wrong. Aren't those crimes hateful? Are the wrong?

Main Points and Evidence-

" Many reports of hostility toward Prop 8 supporters involve acts of vandalism. An elderly couple who put a Yes on 8 sign in their yard had a block thrown through their window."

"Some individuals found their property vandalized with spray paint. Vandals spray-painted vehicles, garages, fences, and Yes on 8 signs in Yucaipa, California."

My Questions Are:

Do the Vandalizers realize that by acting that way they re just as hateful as Prop. 8 as a whole?

Why does the issue keep coming up?

Source- Messner, Thomas. "The Price of Prop 8." The Heritage Foundation October 22nd, 2009.

Preserving California’s Constitution

The following article titled "Preserving California’s Constitution." published on September 28th, 2008 in the New York Times is about same sex marriage. It states that in the months following the article California's voters will have the chance to vote on Proposition 8, a proposition that constitutionally labels marriage as a right only available to heterosexual couples. The writer believes that voters should vote against it and make marriage a right to any couple, despite their orientation.

When I read this article it reminded me that not everyone is as open-minded as I am. I also realized that although we consider ourselves to be free, and compared to many places we are, we aren't honestly and truly free in every sense of the word. I understand that if we were our country would fall into anarchy or since we may not even have a government, we would merely fall into chaos.

Main Points and Evidence-

" It is our fervent hope that Californians will reject this mean-spirited attempt to embed second-class treatment of one group of citizens in the State Constitution."

"It is true that in 2000 California voters approved a ballot measure recognizing only heterosexual marriages as valid."

My Questions Are:

Are the voters at an almost 50/50?

Why does the issue keep coming up?

Source- "Preserving California's Constitution." New York Times September 28th, 2008.

Prop. 8 Only Needs 2 Witnesses.

This article, posted on the San Fransisco Chronicle website on January 29th 2010,
states that the battle over Proposition 8 is anything but boring and is far from over. While Prop. 8 visited the federal court for 12 days many as one would say "heavy hitters" were brought out by the challengers to Prop. 8. While they presented stronger case than the defense they also faced a larger burden. Changing a voter-approved law. The case for Prop. 8 rested greatly on only one witness who's testimony was mostly made up of opinions and almost no evidence to support his argument. Although the outlook on over-turning the proposition is looking brighter, the light at the end of the tunnel is still far off. Same sex marriage still faces much opposition but continues to move forward.

I've lived in San Diego for all of my life and my Mom has always taken me to a Unitarian-Universalist church. The community is made up of people of different ethnicities, different backgrounds, religions, and sexual preferences. Because of this I believe that just everyone should be equal even though they aren't the same as me, I don't like to judge people before I know them, and some of my best friends are gay, some are lesbian. This article gave me hope that even though last year Proposition 8 was passed, and those friends were denied the right to get married in the future, one day it is possible that they will have the exact same right to be married as I do.

Main Points and Evidence

¨ "If the Proposition 8 trial were about something more mundane than the rights of gays and
lesbians to marry - say, a suit over an auto accident or insurance coverage - it would probably be no contest."

¨ "In 12 days of testimony in federal court, lawyers for two same-sex couples and the city of San Francisco called a parade of academic heavyweights and people affected by the ban on same-sex marriage to buttress their claim of unconstitutional discrimination. Defenders of the November 2008 ballot measure called only two witnesses, who did not address many of the plaintiffs' issues. "


My questions are:

¨ Why are people so very opposed to the idea of letting every kind of couple get married?

¨ If you aren't gay or lesbian then why does the issue even seem all that revelant for others?


Source- Egelko, Bob. "Prop 8 Defence Only Needs 2 Witnesses." San Fransisco Chronicle January 29, 2010.

Welcome

Hello, my name is Kali Gibson and this is my blog for media class at High Tech High International. We have been paired up with another person in the class in order to bring light to an issue occuring in the world today. Through this blog I will collect and store my research on my topic, same sex marriage, in the hopes of creating a short video that will inform others of the issue. In order for me to be succesful I will be asking this question throughout my project: Is marriage a constitutional right? I intend to involve my personal opinion as little as possible although i would like to state that I believe love is love and everyone should be treated equally. All of that aside, enjoy my blog.