Gay Marriage in U.S.: Still a Hard Sell

During the current American presidential election, Obama won the state of California by more than 60 percent, and yet despite his opposition to Proposition 8 it unexpectedly passed. Supporters of Proposition 8 were overcome with joy as the bill amends the California state constitution and will safeguard traditional marriage by stating clearly that marriage will only be recognized as that between a man and a woman.

Gays and human rights activists who were disappointed with the results have already filed three lawsuits to the California Supreme Court seeking to overturn Proposition 8. They are also requesting that it ensure that the 1,800 gay marriages that have taken place since June of this year continue to remain in effect.

After a long struggle by gay right activists, many states in the 1990’s, beginning with Vermont, began to allow gay couples to register in civil unions. At the same time, Maine and Washington began to allow gay couples to register as co-dependent households, allowing gay couples to enjoy the same legal rights as husband and wife. However, homosexuals complained that the above mentioned law did not give them the same treatment as those marriages between a man and a woman.

By way of State Supreme Court decision, Massachusetts became the fist state in the union to legalize gay marriage in the spring of 2004. However, this triggered a lot of uproar in opposition of gay marriage. During that year’s presidential election, 11 states proposed referendums banning gay marriage. In order to prevent the courts from passing judgments on gay marriage on their own, or state legislatures passing a related bill, the United States has 37 states that have modified their state constitutions so that marriage is only valid between a man and a woman.

This year California, Arizona and Florida put forward a measure to modify their state constitutions banning gay marriage. Because California is the most populous state, when the State Supreme Court ruled in favor of gay marriage in May and after Proposition 8 was put on the ballot, the Presidential and vice-presidential candidates as well as congressional candidates were all forced to take a stand on the issue. At the same time, the mainstream media were competing with each for coverage on the issue. The debate over Proposition 8 received over $74 million, making it the most costly referendum in United States history.

For the past few months various public opinion polls showed that opposition to Proposition 8 far exceeded its supporters. However, opinion polls also revealed that many people who were against Proposition 8 were also not in favor of gay marriage. Some people wished to uphold the constitution and did not approve of a referendum that would alter it. Some people believed that separate was not equal and were not willing to assign homosexuals as second-class citizens and opposed the measure. For whatever reasons the voters were against it, whether it was the influence of opinion poll numbers, political figures or Hollywood celebrity support, the numbers in the past few months showed that Proposition 8 would definitely not pass.

In fact, the reasons why Proposition 8 went through had something to due with the successful political tactics used by its supporters during the last month before the election. The first thing they decided was to use school education to publicize their point. They energetically advertised on television and through mass mailings that if Proposition 8 did not go through public schools would start teaching about homosexual marriage, and Christian churches would be penalized if they were unwilling to except and perform gay marriages. These scare tactics were not true, but they were effective. The second thing they did was organize a grass roots movement and supporters spread out carrying the flag for Proposition 8. In addition, high voter turnout by Blacks and Latinos lead to the passing of the measure. Blacks and Latinos are strongly against gay marriage, and although they traditionally do not have high voter turnout, this year their turnout was especially high due to support for Barack Obama. While casting their vote for Obama, they also cast their vote in support of Proposition 8.

The three states that voted against supporting gay marriage shows that the majority of Americans are still unwilling to accept the legalization of gay marriage. But California’s Proposition 8 has received the most attention and both sides of the issue are going through a fierce battle. This shows that through this one issue, the majority of Americans are changing. Also for this reason, the controversy over gay marriage in the United States is not only a legal one and cannot simply be settled on this stopping point.