The battle over gay rights only intensified in the six months leading up to a historic election as several states either recognized or rejected same-sex unions. In one state, the legal system did both.
On May 15, a California Supreme Court case ruled that limiting marriage to being between a man and a woman violates equal protection of the California Constitution. Couples were able to marry as of June 17, 2008.
On Nov. 4, Proposition 8 reversed that decision, however, by amending the state Constitution to redefine marriage as a union between a man and a woman.
Similar referendums passed in Arizona and Florida, joining the 27 other states that define marriage as strictly heterosexual commitments.
The 18,000 same-sex couples who married between June 17 and Nov. 4 are now in a state of legal limbo, Christine Gasparac, spokeswoman for California Attorney General Edmund Brown said.
‘People don’t know if their marriage is valid,’ she said. ‘There is a great personal driving need for a fast resolution for couples.’
The American Civil Liberties Union and the cities of San Francisco and Los Angeles all filed lawsuits the day after the referendums Nov. 5 The lawsuits challenge the constitutionality of Proposition 8, claiming it is a revision rather than an amendment, which would violate the state’s constitutional separation of power.
Brown filed briefs to request that legal challenges to Proposition 8 bypass lower courts and go directly to the California Supreme Court on Nov. 17. Though Brown believes same-sex marriages conducted between June 17 and Nov. 4 should remain valid, his job position requires him to defend Proposition 8, Gasparac said.
‘The attorney general is the state’s lawyer,’ Gasparac said. ‘His job is to defend the law of the state, and since Proposition 8 is the law of the state, he has to defend it.’
Outing Anti-Gay Activists
Online communities were created to out people who donated to Yes on 8, and supported the ban on gay marriage. Raphael Mazor, the founder of one such website called ‘You Can’t Hide Your Hate,’ said he created the site to combat his feelings of powerlessness.
‘It felt like a betrayal,’ Mazor said. ‘Our neighbors attacked us with their votes.’
Mazor said people should use the information on his website to make informed decisions about where they spend their money. However, Mazor said he is strongly opposed to using information found on his and other similar websites in a malicious manner.
‘Anything illegal is counterproductive,’ Mazor said. ‘The message we want to get across is that political speech is public speech.’
The Knights of Columbus, a Catholic-affiliated service organization, donated $1,425,000 to Yes on Proposition 8, according to youcanthideyourhate.blogspot.com
The social organization has been a target of Prop 8 ‘hate lists’ with a number of angry, sometimes vulgar, emails, Knights spokesman Patrick Korten said.
‘They have a perfect right to express their opinion,’ Korten said. ‘This is America.’
But Korten said opponents went too far when they sent an envelope containing white powder to the Knights’ Connecticut headquarters on Nov. 13. Two Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints temples in Utah and Los Angeles also received similar envelopes.
Following the Money
Californians Against Hate founder Fred Karger said he discovered discrepancies in LDS’ campaign contributions. The church reported the millions of dollars it gave to the campaign for Prop. 8, but did not report its non-monetary contributions, Karger alleged in a Nov. 13 complaint to California’s Fair Political Practices Commission.
The nonmonetary contributions included the formation of coalitionformarriage.org, running phone banks and transporting volunteers to California polling stations to campaign for the cause, Karger said.
Other supporters of Prop 8 reported their nonmonetary contributions. The Colorado-based Evangelical group Focus on the Family, contributed $539,643.66 to Yes on 8, according to public record, and reported $83,790 of nonmonetary contributions, according to Karger’s complaint. LDS only reported $2,864 of nonmonetary contribution, Karger said.
‘I am convinced that they spent hundreds of thousands of dollars and didn’t report it,’ Karger said.
The fact that his complaint became an investigation last week is a success, Karger said. Less than five percent of complaints made to California Fair Political Practices Commission are investigated, he said.
‘The Mormon Church is going to be giving some serious thought about becoming so involved in anti-gay politics again,’ Karger said.
California FPPC Executive Director Roman Porter confirmed that FPPC received a complaint from Californians Against Hate about LDS.
‘We have received a complaint and made a decision to investigate the complaint,’ Porter said.
An LDS spokesperson said that he would not comment on the FPPC matter, but in a Nov. 5 press release, the church said the election results will not end debate on the issue of same-sex marriage and the church has the right to participate in that debate.
‘Churches and religious organizations are well within their constitutional rights to speak out and be engaged in the many moral and ethical problems facing society,’ the press release said.
Not all churches are united on the issue. Eunice Murray, co-chairwoman of the Boston chapter of Mormons for Equality and Social Justice, said in an email that his chapter independently decided to protest Proposition 8. The escalating tensions between the LDS church and gay community will lead to nothing, she said.
‘Despite the, at least initial, nonviolent emphasis, the freewheeling anti-Mormon rhetoric aimed at the purportedly monolithic LDS Church membership from some members of the anti-8 contingent has seemingly escalated to a level of intolerance that echoes homophobia expressed by pushers of 8,’ she said.
If both sides put a familiar face on those opposite the picket line, progress can happen, Murray said.
‘Until then, we are all consigning ourselves to another culture war that might have been ‘-‘- and still could be ‘-‘- avoided,’ Murray said.
