Editorial boards across California reject Proposition 8

by Michael A. Jones

Published October 28, 2008 @ 08:10PM PT

Editorial boards throughout California have condemned Proposition 8 as an “ugly distortion of the very purpose of a Constitution” that “discourages tolerance and can foster hate crimes.”

The truth sometimes hurts.

Here’s a roundup of some quotes from editorials across the Golden State that have urged Californian voters to say No on Prop 8.

San Jose Mercury News: “Affirming a right to same-sex marriage over the long run would increase acceptance of the reality that sexual orientation is predetermined - like race and ethnicity, it may be hidden, but it can't be changed. Legal discrimination of the kind embodied in Proposition 8 discourages tolerance and can foster hate crimes.”

Los Angeles Times: “…the very act of denying gay and lesbian couples the right to marry – traditionally the highest legal and societal recognition of a loving commitment – by definition relegates them and their relationships to second-class status, separate and not all that equal.”

San Francisco Chronicle: “Proponents of Proposition 8 like to cast their campaign as ‘restoring marriage and protecting California children.’ As we have said before, there is nothing more calming or traditional to American society than giving two people who love each other the opportunity to build a life together - raising children, sharing dreams, balancing careers, building communities. Californians should reject Proposition 8.”

San Diego Union Tribune: “As gay couples have gone to the courthouse and entered into matrimony, usually surrounded by champagne, family and friends, the worst fears of gay marriage opponents suddenly seem greatly inflated. For instance, Christian conservatives have asserted for years that allowing gays to marry would undermine heterosexual unions – hence, such laws as the Defense of Marriage Act. In truth, however, there has been no discernible impact on traditional marriage between a man and a woman now that gay couples in California have the same right.”

Sacramento Bee: “Just as an individual's sexual orientation is not a legitimate basis on which to deny housing or a job, it is not a legitimate basis on which to deny individuals the right to marry. Californians should reject the call to amend the state constitution to exclude some people from marriage. That would be a black mark on the constitution, just as past exclusionary acts remain a stain on California's history.”

Orange County Register: “Guarantees of individual rights are included in constitutions precisely to ensure that such rights cannot be taken away, by majority vote, legislative enactment or administrative decision. The state Supreme Court ruled that the right to marry is a fundamental individual right that must be provided equally to all people desiring to marry. Allowing same-sex couples to share in this right does not denigrate or degrade the marriages of the vast majority of people who enter into the traditional man-woman form of marriage. It strikes us as simple fairness.”

Riverside Press Enterprise: “State law does not force same-sex marriage on anyone, nor does it require people with religious objections to homosexuality to violate their beliefs. But state law in wildly diverse California also has to rest on constitutional precepts, not religious doctrine.”

Fresno Bee: “The notion that same-sex marriages somehow threaten the sanctity and strength of heterosexual marriages is simply absurd. Those who worry about the health of heterosexual marriages should focus their attention on divorce, which is the real threat to marriage.” (DAMN! Snap!)

Los Angeles Daily News: “Besides being a blatant attempt by one group to impose its faith on another group, [Proposition 8] is nonsensical. Proposition 8 will not stop gay couples from being gay couples or having rights under domestic partnership laws; it would merely prevent them from entering into a legal contract that exists to keep families – of all types – strong. How does that strengthen family values?” (The answer: It doesn’t.)

The Bakersfield Californian: “California has domestic partnership laws that encompass many of the basic legal privileges and responsibilities that married couples take for granted. But barring same-sex couples from legal marriage relegates them to "separate but equal" status. The term ought to sound familiar. It's the same oppressive language we once imposed on racial minorities in this country.”