Undo 11,000 marriages?
Because counties don't keep a tally of whether the couples who get marriage licenses are of the same gender, it's been impossible to know how many gay and lesbian weddings have occurred since the state Supreme Court ruling took effect in mid-June. All of these marriages would probably be declared invalid--a kind of mass divorce by state initiative--if Proposition 8's ban on same-sex marriage passes in November.
The Williams Institute at UCLA came out today with a number, or at least an estimate: 11,000 same-sex weddings from June 17 to September 17. They did this by totting up, county by county, the number of marriages last year during that time and comparing it with this year, assuming that most of the increase would have been a result of the Supreme Court ruling. That seems like a pretty good assumption, since the biggest increases were seen in counties like L.A. and San Francisco that are known to have big gay populations.
This fits in neatly with the big delay to the big Proposition 8 sign-planting. Remember how in late September, a possible 1 million religionists were supposed to march out of their homes, at roughly the same time, and plant a Yes on Proposition 8 sign on their front lawns? Seems the printing of a number of those signs was outsourced to another country or countries--the campaign isn't saying which, but the blog rumor mill has been saying China--and the signs were somehow delayed. I see that the bumper stickers, which showed up in a more timely fashion, exhort people to "Restore Marriage." But what does this mean in the context of 11,000 same-sex marriages that stand to be undone by the initiative, a 17% increase in the number of all marriages in the state? Whose bumper stickers are these, anyway? Seems like the anti-Prop. 8 folks could use the same slogan; maybe there should be a few last-minute changes to those lawn signs before they arrive, whenever that is.
Photo by Ben Margot/AP
Ken wrote "A stable father/mother unit promotes children of better health, stronger character and greater focus."
No one is disputing that. Prop 8 is not a referendum on that point. Prop 8 is a refererdum on whether same-sex couples can have the same equality and state-recognized benefits as opposite sex couples. One of the 1st homes in my parents subdivision (in IL) was a same sex couple. Over the yrs, many opposite sex couples, many w/children, moved in. The the one of the 1st couples who lived there were same sex was not a distraction or determint for the development of their subdivision or take anything away from a neighborhood in which to raise kids. Second point: CDFS (chld dev and fam res) studies show no diff in various parameters betw kids raised by same sex parents as opposite sex parents. Please, let's get the facts str8.
Posted by: Ted | October 07, 2008 at 07:53 AM
So, Braun,
Exactly whose freedom of religion would Prop 8 protect? Certainly not all as there is an increasingly number of religions that support same-sex marriage. Not everyone believes in your religion. What about them?
Posted by: DanO | October 06, 2008 at 10:36 PM
People should vote in favor of Proposition 8 because it simply confirms the common sense notion that marriage between a man and a woman promotes a healthy social system. It is in the best interest of our children that they be taught in the schools that, ideally, families contain one mother and one father. A stable father/mother unit promotes children of better health, stronger character and greater focus. Study after study has proven this. If Proposition 8 does not pass, your tax dollars will support the teaching of children -- as young as kindergarden -- that gay marriage is option for them. Gay marriage is not just about private lives and private matters -- that is a lie. If it was just about privacy, there would be no need for redefinition, because under California law gays have all the legal rights as straight couples.
Posted by: Ken | October 06, 2008 at 09:36 PM
Braun, Satan has absolutely nothing to do with this. It's people who refuse to think for themselves and would rather base their ENTIRE worldview around a book, written by flesh and blood men--NOT GOD--thousands of years ago for a completely different culture that no longer exists, who are the real problem.
Please telll me and everybody else, sir, how YOU would feel if your right to be married to your wife was put to a popular vote by the people.
Think about it. It's not rocket science.
Posted by: Brian | October 06, 2008 at 09:33 PM
Why do we have to do it? Why do homosexuals and the state have to push their beliefs on millions of other people? I am tired of people saying that the "religious" are forcing their beliefs on society, when society is forcing its belief on the religious. We do not want a society filled with behavior that we consider immoral and that will errode and decay the rest of society. Satan has been working overtime by tearing families apart (as evidenced by the high divorce rate). Moraliy and loyalty do not mean much today. Last thing we need is Satan driving another wedge into the moral fabric of society that is marriage.
If the state wants to grant priveleges to homosexual couples that are equal to or greater than heterosexual couples, so be it. Just leave marriage alone, let us teach our children what marriage is really about. I'm not worried of teachers in schools forcing our children to believe in gay marriage, I just don't want the teachers presenting immoral stories in our school about two same gender individuals being married. That is not the place of the teachers or the schools. TEACH MORE MATH AND ENGLISH and less touchy-feely cultural sensitivity lessons
Posted by: Braun | October 06, 2008 at 07:40 PM
To (admittedly, some) supporters of Prop. 8: Tearing other people down is not going to make you happy. Gay people have found love and commitment just like straight people have in their marriages. If heterosexual marriage were so superior and the only life worth choosing, why would an alternative be a cause for alarm at all? Why is the idea that children might grow up in a different kind of family or one day choose something different from your norms so threatening to you? I just don´t understand why you have to insert yourselves into other people´s business and try to poison their happiness to make yourselves feel better.
Posted by: Luke | October 06, 2008 at 04:18 PM
Actually whether the marriages between now and Nov.remain valid or not if Prop. 8 passes is up in the air. Since ballot measures cannot be retroactive, the AG has said the marriages between now and the election would remain valid.
Posted by: Stan | October 06, 2008 at 01:57 PM