California voter's fought and won a constitutional ban that will prohibit marriage between two people of the same sex. After a $75 million campaign, voters decided the outcome of Proposition 8, dealing a blow to the gay and lesbian right's of men and women throughout the state of California. .
Those who supported the ban focused on a few key issues during their campaigning of the bill. They believed that young children would be forced to accept gay marriages whether or not they wanted to. They believed this would be harmful for young children to accept. They also argued that churches that refused to perform gay marriage ceremonies would be sanctioned and that the institution of marriage would end up being destroyed. .
Many supporters of gay marriage and gay rights stated that these worries were nothing more than scare tactics. Supporters of the ban worried that many voters were taking a "let others do what they want" attitude towards the issue. Therefore, the focus of the problem was shifted onto the children to help supporters of the ban make their supposed point. Many political leaders supported the rights of gay marriages, such as Senator Diane Feinstein, as well as the state's public instruction superintendent. However, Proposition 8 did pass in California, with a passing vote of 52% to 48%. .
The African-American voters also played a big role with the outcome of Proposition 8, especially as the presidential campaign of Barrack Obama was ongoing. African-American turnout for the vote was about 10% of the whole vote, which was an unusually high number in the state of California. 52% of the votes were for the Proposition and 47.9 percent were against it. .
The Attorney General of California, Jerry Brown, stated that any marriages that were done between June 17th 2008 up to the time of the decision will stay valid. However, legal experts say that those marriages should expect challenges and that courts may decide against them.
