Same-sex marriage ban winning - San Francisco Chronicles

John Wildermuth, Chronicle Staff Writer

Wednesday, November 5, 2008

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/11/05/BA3B13UM63.DTL&type=politics

(11-05) 07:31 PST SACRAMENTO -- After a heated, divisive campaign, fueled by a record $73 million of spending, California voters early today were backing Proposition 8, which would change the state Constitution to ban same-sex marriage.

With 95 percent of the vote counted, the measure was piling up huge margins in the Central Valley, but losing in every Bay Area county but Solano.

Six months after the California Supreme Court cleared the way for gay and lesbian couples to wed, the estimated 18,000 same-sex couples who took advantage of the landmark decision now wonder if they will be the last.

Opponents of the measure, gathered at the Westin St. Francis Hotel in San Francisco, tried to put the best face on the disappointing results.

"There are a lot of votes still to count, and we expect the race to go on late tonight and possibly beyond," said Geoff Kors, executive director of Equality California, the guiding force behind the "No on Prop. 8" campaign.

Election officials estimated there could be as many as 2 million ballots left to count after election day, mainly from mail ballots that arrived Tuesday.

Supporters of the ban stayed cautiously optimistic.

"We're confident voters did go to the polls to vote 'yes' to protect traditional marriage," said Chip White, a spokesman for the Prop. 8 campaign.

Same-sex marriage bans won easily Tuesday night in Florida and Arizona. It was a rematch in Arizona, which in 2006 became the only state to ever reject a ban on same-sex marriage.

The campaign in California pitted those who argued that a same-sex marriage ban was nothing more than outdated discrimination against gays and lesbians, and conservatives and Christian groups who countered that the state and the courts have no right to unilaterally change a definition of marriage that has existed for centuries.

The flood of dollars that poured into the state from every part of the country made Prop. 8 the most expensive social issue race the nation has ever seen. And behind every one of those checks was someone desperately worried about what the election result could mean to them and their state.

To San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom and other opponents of Prop. 8, as well as to religious groups who backed the measure, the proposed ban on same-sex marriage was the second-most-important election in the country Tuesday.

The Prop. 8 battle, born in San Francisco, came eight years after more than 61 percent of California voters came out in favor of Prop. 22, which banned same-sex marriage in the state. But supporters had little time to savor the victory.

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"There are about 40 percent of the voters on each side, and nothing will move them," said Steve Smith, political consultant for the "No on Prop. 8" effort. "Then there's the other 20 percent that seems to change their mind every day. That's who we concentrate on."

The fight for undecided voters left each side battling around the edges of an issue that seemed straightforward enough: Should gay and lesbian couples be allowed to marry in California?

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동성애 결혼을 금지하는 제안이 통과될 것이 확실시 되고 있다.

애초에 이런 법안이 거론되었다는 자체가 충격적이고 미국의 기초가 흔들리고 있다는 증거이지만,

다행히 아직은 꽤 많은 사람들이 이 법안에 대하여 바른 의견을 가지고 있었나보다.

세상에는 질서가 있다. 하나님이 처음 창조하실 때부터 만들어진 질서가 있다.

남자는 여자와 만나 사랑을 하는 것이 질서이며 남자와 여자가 가정을 이루는 것이 질서이다.

동성을 이성처럼 사랑하게 된 사람들에 대하여 안타까운 마음은 있지만 안타까운 마음이 질서를

무너뜨리게 할 수는 없는 것이다.   - sean