Pain and Protest for Prop 8
Outrage over California’s Proposition 8 is sparking new interest in the decade-long grassroots movement to boycott marriage. AtMP’s mailbox is full of creative ideas and personal pleas from around the country:
- Jeff and his wife are thinking of getting divorced in protest.
- Joe has drafted a litigation proposal aiming for CA to stop licensing any marriages and offer all couples civil unions instead.
- Debanuj sees bitter irony in the absence of outrage over marriage discrimination ballots in Arkansas, Arizona and Florida, or over other votes that strip even more fundamental rights from people whether gay or not, married or not.
- Catherine says “As a gay Californian, it feels so good to have the support of so many of our straight neighbors.”
December 8th, 2008 at 10:07 pm
My girlfriend and I were considering marriage until prop 8. We live in California and thought that we might try to register as domestic partners in a statement of solidarity (since it is “equal” to marriage according to prop 8 proponents). However, we discovered that domestic partnership is limited to same-sex couples unless one party is at least 62 years old. We are interested in pursuing this option legally, but are concerned about the possible ramifications (the end of domestic partnership). We’d be interested in any input, contacts, lawyers etc. that might be helpful.
December 9th, 2008 at 1:32 am
I AM SO ANGRY AND DISAPPOINTED, I FEEL LIKE A LOST VOICE IN A WIND STORM, I CAN
NOT BELIEVE FOR THE LIFE OF ME WHAT HAPPENED WITH PROP8,,, I ASK MYSELF WHY AM I
PAYING STATE TAXES IN CALIFORNIA IF I AM NOT GOING TO BE TREATED AS AND EQUAL
CITIZEN OF THIS STATE???? WHY DOES OUR GOVERNMENT TAKE FROM US AND NOT GIVE US
THE SINGLE MOST COMMON THREAD AMONG HUMANS AND THAT IS THE RIGHT AS AN EQUAL IN
THIS LAND WE LIVE IN??? OH IT JUST BLOWS ME AWAY TO THINK THAT SOMEONE ELSE CAN
VOTE TO SAY MY LOVE FOR ANOTHER IS NOT AS IMPORTANT AS THEIR’S… WHAT IS WRONG
WITH THIS PICTURE???? I’LL TELL YOU WHAT’S WRONG, WE NEED A GROUP IN THIS DAY
AND AGE AS AGRESSIVE AS ACT UP USE TO BE, NOT THE VIOLENCE BUT THE ASSERTIVENESS
TO LET PEOPLE KNOW WE ARE EQUAL, WE ARE HUMAN, WE ARE LOVERS, WE ARE PARENTS, WE
ARE BROTHERS, SISTERS, LAW OFFICERS, LAWYERS, DOCTORS, WRITERS, TEACHERS,
FRIENDS, WE ARE CITIZENS OF THIS PLANET THAT DESERVE THE SAME CONSTIT…
December 10th, 2008 at 3:16 am
I am grieved that the residents of California passed Proposition 8. I am against the concept and institution of marriage because I see it as a patriarchical institution that originated in the ancient world which treated women like property. Originally property of their fathers, they would then become properties of their husbands though marriage. I reject marriage because I see it as patriarchical and hierarchical and I am opposed to both.
I believe that if we are going to have institutions like marriage, both different-sex and same-sex couples should have the right to get married. I personally don’t wish marriage on same-sex couples for the same reason I wouldn’t wish it on any other couple; I don’t approve of marriage at all.
I voted against Proposition 8. I voted against it because it originated in fundamentalist hatred and bigotry towards the GLBT community. It originated in the [...] minds of men like James Dobson and Timothy LaHaye and their repugnant, judgmental, and hateful fundamentalist brand of Christianity. That’s all it is, hateful bigotry.