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Victory: California Marriage Proposition 8 Passes in Historic Battle

By John Jalsevac

November 5, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The homosexualist lobby received one of its stiffest blows in years, and one which may ultimately serve as a permanent setback for same-sex “marriage” in the US, after California’s Proposition 8, the ballot measure to define marriage as being exclusively between a man and a woman, is projected to pass by a narrow majority vote.

The proposition was ahead by margin of 52% to 48% with 95% of precincts reporting as of 8am today. The referendum called for the California constitution to be amended by adding the phrase: "Only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California."

The vote marks the second time that Californian voters have voted to protect natural marriage in the state. In a 2000 referendum Californians overwhelmingly voted for marriage, passing Proposition 22 with a 61% to 38% majority.

Proposition 8 proponents emerged victorious despite a difficult uphill battle that pitted grassroots Californians against a hostile political establishment, judiciary, and Hollywood elite that pulled out all the stops in the fight to defeat the initiative.

The battle for marriage was given a seemingly insurmountable setback earlier in the year after the California Supreme Court decided in a 4-3 vote on May 15 to ignore the 2000 referendum, and to force same-sex “marriage” on the state. Since then thousands of homosexual couples have been “married” under the court decision. Those “marriages,” however, will now be invalidated.      

The strategically timed Supreme Court decision had numerous far reaching effects for the Yes on 8 campaign, one of which is that it permitted the Attorney General to alter the language of the initiative as it would appear on the ballot, so that, rather than positively defining marriage as between a man and a woman, the ballot read that Proposition 8 “eliminates (the) right of same-sex couples to marry."

Despite the high-level opposition, however, "we caused Californians to rethink this issue," Proposition 8 strategist Jeff Flint said last night, according to the LA Times.

In the beginning, he said, "I think the voters were thinking, well, if it makes them happy, why shouldn't we let gay couples get married. And I think we made them realize that there are broader implications to society and particularly the children when you make that fundamental change that's at the core of how society is organized, which is marriage.”

The victory is significant not only for California, but for the whole country, and for the West as a whole. The $70 million battle over Proposition 8 was one of the most heated battles of the 2008 election, even at times appearing to eclipse the presidential campaign in the state.

California, as the largest, and one of the most influential and liberal states in the Union, was perceived as being a key state for homosexualists bent on forcing same-sex “marriage” throughout the country. Opponents and supporters of Proposition 8 both recognized that if homosexual “marriage” was allowed to stay in California, the state would serve as an effective platform to spread this radical social engineering throughout the US, setting off a domino effect.

"No one can underestimate the impact of the largest state in the nation treating all of its citizens equally," said Lorri Jean, head of the Los Angeles Gay & Lesbian Center, and head of the No on 8 campaign.

Despite early polls showing that Proposition 8 would lose, in the final weeks leading up to the vote, thanks to an effective ad campaign, the Yes on 8 campaign was able to warn Californians about the far-reaching effects of permitting same-sex “marriage.” In particular, Prop. 8 supporters focused on educating voters on the effects that same-sex “marriage” would have on the school systems, pointing to the experiences of parents in Massachusetts as a prime example.

The No campaign, despite repeated attempts to paint marriage supporters as liars for warning that same-sex “marriage” will have a profound impact on public schools, suffered significant setbacks after two embarrassing high profile cases emerged one after another in the news in the final few weeks: one of a kindergarten teacher who was found to be holding a “gay day” in her class, and another in which a whole class of grade school students attended their teacher’s same-sex “wedding” at the San Francisco City Hall. The latter case was particularly embarrassing since the minister at the wedding was none other the mayor of San Francisco, Gavin Newsom.

While the final votes continue to be tallied in California, most major networks have declared that Proposition 8 is victorious. "Thanks be to God! Marriage won in California," wrote Brian Brown, executive director of the National Organization for Marriage, in an e-mail to supporters this morning.

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