With 96% of the Proposition 8 votes counted:
YES: 5,220,694 52.2%
NO: 4,792,873 47.8%
This is a pretty incredible result when you consider that California also passed laws to protect chickens and other farm animals (which will drive meat production to other states and Mexico) and also voted not to allow parental notification if a minor daughter seeks an abortion. I didn't have a lot of faith last night when I saw the CNN exit poll showing NO ahead with 52%. In this case it looks like the exit polls were wrong.
It was an incredible effort by a ton of folks - most of whom would have preferred not to spend so much of their time and means to support this.
Our house was buzzing yesterday with GOTV (Get Out The Vote) activity. Volunteers monitored the polling locations, kept track of who had voted then made personal visits and phone calls to those voters previously identified as Yes on 8 supporters.
Since the first signs went up a few weeks ago, most have been stolen or destroyed within minutes or hours. Few survived the night. One friend of mine confronted a guy who claimed to be an attorney who had stopped his BMW to steal a Yes on 8 sign. When asked why he was taking the sign, the guy said he didn't like the fact that Prop 8 takes away rights. "Do you know it's illegal to steal these signs." "So what?" "Name two rights that are being taken away." The guy finally said, "Hospital visitation." "Nope, same sex couples have that right, try again." "There are thousands of them." "I'm just asking you to name two." "F you." Then off he went, leaving the sign alone. For the record, the only 'right' taken away by the passage of Prop 8 is the right to call a same-sex union 'marriage.' Granted, there are other rights that same sex couples don't have but they are federally mandated and enforced and deal with issues like inheritance and how one of the spouses goes about changing their surname after marriage. No matter the outcome of Prop 8, federal laws were not going to change.
The LDS church has taken some heat from the media and the No on 8 supporters. I suspect the missionaries in California are going to find some doors angrily slammed in their face, but they will also find some who will invite them in because they admired the willingness of the church members to stand up for an issue. One 'No on 8' ad released just days before the election, depicted Mormon missionaries going into a home of a lesbian couple ransacking the house, taking their wedding rings and ripping up their marriage certificate. This ad was so mean spirited that not only did it sway undecided voters to the Yes on 8 side, but also served as a rallying call to many volunteers who were burned out and limping toward the finish line but suddenly found the energy and motivation to work harder and longer than they might have. There is no doubt in my mind (and in the mind of the No on 8 supporters) that without the efforts of thousands of LDS volunteers, this proposition would have gone down in defeat. Many of our neighbors who joined us at our sign events complained "I wish our church would take a stand," but so many churches would not because they could not afford to lose their liberal congregants and their donations.
The Armada now looks happy with just LOTOJA and Norda's stickers on back. I hope it stays that way.
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