Thanks to my good friend Ali, it has come to my attention that Proposition 8, the anti-gay California ballot initiative which would overturn the recent ruling legalizing same-sex marriage in the state, has been gaining significant ground in the polls. According to an email sent out by Equality California, polls on October 7th showed that supporters of Prop 8 were up by five points — a huge reversal from the week before, where opponents of the initiative were up five points. The LA Times reports similar findings. This is frightening stuff.
The reversal has been largely attributed to new campaign ads put out by the Yes on 8 campaign, which are filled with blatant lies. The lies include assertions that if Prop 8 doesn’t pass, individuals could be sued for discrimination, that churches would lose their tax exempt status for refusing to marry same sex couples, and that children must be taught about the “correctness” of same-sex marriage in schools.
New ads are fighting back, but these things don’t pay for themselves. And guess what? More bad news: supporters of Prop 8 have raised significantly more money than opponents.
A few days ago, I wrote about the decision which legalized same-sex marriage in Connecticut, and being complacent and overly-confident like I think most of us have been, said “3 down, 47 to go.” Well unless action is taken, it might not be three for long.
Here’s what all of us can do:
1. Donate, donate, donate. I know it’s election season, and everyone is begging you for money. And there are a lot of worthy causes out there. But if you are able to give, this is probably the most important step that you can take to help the NO on Prop 8 campaign.
2. Spread the word. Write blog posts. Email friends and family. Urge others to donate, too.
3. Email Governor Schwarzenegger. Schwarzenegger has finally spoken out against Prop 8, but as a very high profile and influential politician, indeed one who is a Republican, he is in an excellent position to do more to actively campaign and dispel the myths that proponents of the initiative are spreading. Tell him so.
And if you’re in California:
4. Vote. And get your friends and family to vote, too.
5. Volunteer. Sign up today. Even if it’s only a couple hours of phone-banking, your effort can make a big difference. Even if you’re not in California, you can still click that link and get info on phone-banking from home! (Thanks Pizza Diavola!)
6. Get visible. Bumper stickers, signs, buttons, whatever — showing people in a visible way that there is strong opposition to Prop 8 has a bigger influence on public opinion than you may think.
7. Write a letter to the editor. NO on Prop 8 has the tools to help you write your letter today. Do it, and remember that even if yours doesn’t get published, the more that get written, the more that will show up in print.
Did I forget something? Let me know and I’ll add it to the post. Now get to work!
[...] cross-posted at Feministe [...]
umm, you forgot to say that if you are in california, you should go and vote. even if you don’t want to vote on anything else. we know the other side will be working hard to get the vote out. so vote, californians. please. vote no on prop. 8.
Sophiefair, I guess that I kind of assumed it went without saying. But perhaps it doesn’t; I’ll add it.
I guess that I kind of assumed it went without saying. But perhaps it doesn’t;
Heh. I was phonebanking with No on Prop. 4 last week and got a person that said she agreed that Prop. 4 was bad and she hoped it would fail, but that she didn’t vote and hoped that other people would vote no but she didn’t feel like exercising her voting rights.
I just sent in my California ballot and donated another 50 dollars today. My Republican grandparents would be so unhappy if they knew where the birthday money they just sent me is going!
Yeah, they always blitz the airwaves with ads filled with B.S. in the final weeks. This is how they reversed the polls on a reform bill for three-strikes (even getting Arnold to do their lying for them in that case) and they did with Prop. 22 as well.
The ads are really horrible and the anti-ads are few and far between. In fact, airing less frequent than just a month ago.
And yeah if you don’t want to vote for anything else, put your votes on the props 4, 8 and others.
We’re going to keep pushing here in California — so much will depend on getting young people to the polls, as all the evidence generally suggests that the newest voters are the ones most predisposed to support marriage equality.
I’ve got three dozen students in my Intro to Lesbian and Gay American History class this semester, and several of them are doing intense organzing to carry on the fight against Prop. 8.
My money for the props is split three ways: Yes on 2 (farm animals), No on 4 (parental notification), and No on the egregious 8.
Done.
Just made another post on my blog about Prop 8 sharing many of your suggestions on ways to help. Let me know if you are OK with that. Also, I would suggest you start a RETWEET Campaign to blanket the twitter world with a link to this post.
cara — i once had a politician tell me that the most important thing to do was to ask people for their vote — that you could give the biggest barn-burner of a speech, and it would mean nothing if you didn’t ask people for their vote. i thought about it, and i think that he’s right. it should go without saying, but sometimes you have to ask!
There is a similar prop in Florida, Prop 2. With California getting a lot of attention, I like to remind the folks from my home state that Prop 2 is dangerous.
I live in Arizona (ugh, McCain is EVERYWHERE!) and we have our own similar prop to deal with — Prop 102. We ALREADY have laws on the books making same-sex marriage illegal, and 4 years ago, we ALREADY shot down a similar prop wanting to change the constitution, but SURPRISE! SURPRISE! it’s on the ballots again. UGH.
So if you live in Arizona: VOTE NO TO PROP 102!!!!!!!!!!
And the stupid “Say YES to marriage!” commericals are making me gag.
If anything, WHY do we need to change the state constitution?! Anyone, on any side of the same-sex debate, should be VERY uncomfortable changing the constitution willy-nilly like this. It’s disgusting.
Are you positive about the Canada part? I seem to recall an in-law in my family talking about that, she lives in Canada and is a preacher. Maybe that was prior to the Canada change?
To say that the “yes on 8″ ads are a blatant lie is a blatant lie. After said accusation, a law firm investigated the claims made in the ads and concluded I quote,”As you can see, the facts and legal authorities completely substantiate the simple claims made in this ad.”
“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”
I like the 1st Amendment. Every part of it seems to be related to discussion of Proposition 8.
The 1st amendment guarantees my right to an opinion. The strongest differences of opinion over issues are usually questions of deciding “greater good”.
I am neither lesbian nor gay, but if my opinion affects my neighbor, I should think about it seriously. After much thought, my view is most similar to the one articulated here:
http://www.marriageinstitute.ca/images/somerville.pdf
It contains non-religious(not that there’s anything wrong with that) arguments written by Margaret Somerville, an ethicist who has advised The United Nations.
I will vote Yes on Proposition 8 and if you will read and think about Ms. Somerville’s ideas, maybe you will too.
Hey Paul, you know what I’m really fucking sick of? It’s not just the homophobia — and yeah, I saw the argument that opposing same-sex marriage is not homophobic because it’s about “culture,” but I’d say that the claim that same-sex couples aren’t good enough to be apart of our culture is really homophobic. It’s not just the I SWEAR I’M NOT A HOMOPHOBE JUST BECAUSE I DON’T THINK THAT GAY AND BISEXUAL PEOPLE ARE AS GOOD AS ME. Nope, it’s not just that. Because I’m selfish. And so when people make “defenses of marriage,” as a married woman who thinks that everyone should be able to enjoy the same union if they so choose, I just have to think of MY marriage. And I’m really fucking sick of being told that my marriage is about child-bearing. It’s not. I don’t want kids. Ever. Ever. Ever. Neither does my husband. If getting married meant kids for us, we never would have done it. You got that? And no, I don’t give a shit that Somerville says that it’s okay that we don’t want to have kids (why thank you! how nice!). Because my marriage isn’t about some stupid symbolism of fertility either. Or symbolism of what is actually imagined fertility. My marriage does not exist to uphold your bigotry IN THE NAME OF THE CHILDREN OH WHY WON’T ANYONE THINK OF THEM.
Oh yeah, I’m pissed.
So. I did not personally approve your comment, but I will tell you that you can take your shit elsewhere because it’s not welcome here. I don’t welcome it either as someone who cares about LGBT rights, or as someone who is tired of being told by total strangers what her relationship does and does not mean. I am more than a womb. My relationship with my husband is about a hell of a lot more than a penis and a vagina, thank you very much. And if you stopped to think about it, you’d realize how insulting such a suggestion is.