Gay Marriage Still Faces Many Hardships

Obama has won more than 60 percent of the vote in the U.S. presidential election in California, yet Proposition 8, which he opposed, was unexpectedly approved. The supporters of Proposition 8 were ecstatic, stressing that the only way to protect traditional marriage was by amending the California Constitution and by setting out that, “Only marriage between a man and a woman is valid and recognized in California.” Disappointed gay, lesbian and human rights groups have brought three lawsuits to the California Supreme Court requesting the court overthrow Proposition 8 as well as asking to ensure that the 18,000 homosexual couples who have gotten married since June of this year according to California law will remain legitimate.

Because of the struggle by gays and lesbians, many states such as Vermont allowed couples to register as “civil unions” with the government during the 90s; states such as Maine and Washington also permitted same-sex couples to form a “family partnership” so that they could enjoy the same legal rights as heterosexual couples. Nevertheless, homosexual couples complained that the law did not really enable them to enjoy the same rights as heterosexual couples; therefore they continue to fight for legitimate marriage.

In spring of 2004, according to its Supreme Court’s decision, the state of Massachusetts became the first state in the U.S. to legalize same-sex marriage. However, that also provoked a great deal of noise among those who were against it. During the presidential election that year, 11 states proposed and adopted a same-sex marriage ban by referendum. In order to prevent the court from legalizing marriage for gays and lesbians on its own, 27 states have already stipulated by state constitutional amendment that only marriages between men and women are effective.

This year, only three states – California, Arizona, Florida – requested to amend the state constitution in order to ban marriage for gays and lesbians. Since the population of gays and lesbians in California ranks highest in the nation, and its Supreme Court just legalized homosexual marriage in May, Proposition 8 has raised national concern. Not only were the president, vice president and senate candidates forced to declare their positions, all the major media also competed with their comments. The pro and anti campaigners of Proposition 8 received up to $74,000,000 dollars in contributions, which made the case as the most expensive non-economic related referendum in the history of the United States.

In the past few months, various public opinion polls show that opponents of Proposition 8 have always been more than supporters. The poll also reflected that among those Proposition 8 opponents who do not support marriage for gays and lesbians, their positions are based on “the defense of the constitution,” not in favor of amending the state constitution directly once the referendum exceeds half of the votes; some believe “separation does not mean equality,” and do not want “homosexuals to become second-class citizens.” Regardless of the reasons why voters opposed it, regardless of the poll figures, politicians and Hollywood stars’ support, it was certain that Proposition 8 would not be approved in the past few months.

In fact, the approval of Proposition 8 was greatly due to the successful strategy of its campaigners during the final month. First, they decided to focus their promotion on school education, claiming vigorously in television advertisements and published materials that, once Proposition 8 was rejected, public schools would begin promoting marriage for gays and lesbians, and if churches did not accept marrige for gays and lesbians, they would also be punished. Although these “threatening tactics” are not true, they were obviously effective. Second, they began a grassroots movement by widely distributing small flags of supporting Proposition 8. In addition, the high turnout of black and Latino voters led to the proposition’s approval. The majority of blacks and Latinos oppose homosexuality and their vote rate is normally low; their turnout was especially high this time due to their support of Obama, and while voting for Obama, they also cast a vote in support of Proposition 8.

The approval of the proposition opposing marriage for gays and lesbians in the three states shows that most Americans do not want to legitimize it by vote. However, considering the high degree of attention given to Proposition 8 in California, the fierce battle between supporters and opponents, and finally the approval by a majority vote slightly more than half, there is still uncertainty in U.S. public opinion. Therefore, we can predict that the controversy of marriage for gays and lesbians as well as the war of law derived from it will see no end in the United States.