Proposition 8: California Marriage Protection Act

For those of you who live under a rock (or in another state or country, as the case may be), Prop 8 is the "California Marriage Protection Act" that, if passed, will amend the California State Constitution by adding these fourteen words: "Only marriage between a man and a woman is valid and recognized in California." The voting to pass or reject this proposition will happen on November 4, 2008.

Since nothing concerning politics can be unbiased, I want to give this disclaimer before I go any farther: if I could, I would vote "yes" on Prop 8. Onward and forward!

First, let's get some facts:

• FACT: In 2000, California voted "yes" on the legislation to define marriage as being between a man and a woman.
• FACT: In May of 2008, four San Francisco judges overturned this legislation, ruling it unconstitutional.
• FACT: According to Section 297 - 297.5 of the California Family Code, domestic partners have the same benefits, protection, and rights as heterosexual married couples.
• FACT: Massachusetts is the only other state to legalize same-sex marriage, having done so in 2004.
• FACT: In 2006, a second grade teacher read her class "King and King," a story about two princes getting married. When parents objected, courts ruled that parents had no right to be given advanced notice that their children would be learning about gay marriage in schools, nor could they pull their children from class.
• FACT: In 2006, Catholic charities ended its adoption work in Massachusetts after more than 100 years of service, because the state's anti-discrimination laws required adoption agencies to place children in same-sex homes.

Okay, so there are a few things to bring you up to speed. From here on, my own personal opinions will be intermingled with facts. You have been forewarned (unlike the parents of second-graders in Massachusetts). After reading that, my question "Will the allowing of homosexual marriage in California affect me?" was answered: yes, it most certainly will. While I tolerate homosexuality, I do not accept it (i.e. dictionary definition of accept: "believe or come to recognize (an opinion, explanation, etc.) as valid or correct"), and I do not want it to be forced into my everyday life.

One thing I am very confused about is the arguments of "No on Prop 8" supporters (all taken directly from their website):

• Prop 8 is Unfair Regardless about how you feel about this issue, we should not eliminate rights for any Californian. Prop 8 would mandate, under the laws of our state, that one group would be treated differently from everyone else. That's just unfair.

I feel like the kid in Live Free or Die Hard. "Please tell me they're just here for show and aren't actually in charge of anything." First and foremost, Prop 8 wouldn't eliminate any "rights"; as I stated above, domestic partnerships are equal to marriage under California State Law. Furthermore, "No on Prop 8" seems to be laboring under the delusion that marriage is a right, when in fact it is a privilege. You need a license to marry someone, just like you need a license to drive a car or carry a gun. You do not exit the womb with the inalienable right to marriage, driving, and bearing a firearm. These are things you need to go through a legal process to be allowed a permit for. In any case, the whole thing is BS and not worth analyzing, because the fact is, homosexuals are allowed to marry. If a homosexual man and a homosexual woman wanted to receive a marriage license, they would be given it. The state allows that. Marriage just has to be between a man and a woman and mutually consenting. It has nothing to do with orientation. Besides, groups of people are treated "unfairly" all the time: twelve-year-olds are not legally allowed to drive cars, sixteen-year-olds are. Unfair would be if not every sixteen-year-old (granted that he is not blind, crippled, etc.) was not offered the same chance with the same test to get his license. Unfair is not the fact that twelve-year-olds are not permitted to drive a car. Twelve-year-olds and sixteen-year-olds; same-sex marriages and heterosexual marriages; apples and oranges.

• Prop 8 is Wrong Prop 8 is fueled by special interest groups that have engaged in a deceptive campaign. The government has no business telling people who have been together for years that they can or cannot get married. In California, we let people decide for themselves what's best for them. We believe in freedom to make choices without government interference. Prop 8 is wrong for California.

I'm frackin' speechless. Honestly, I'm not sure whether to laugh or cry at the sheer level of retardation these people put forth. I'm going to have to answer each contradicting claim separately so that my head doesn't explode. 1) It's strange how "special interest groups" has come to mean "anyone not on our side of the fence." There are plenty of perfectly average citizens out there -- on YouTube, on blogs, on sidewalks -- that are saying "yes" to Prop 8. And does "have engaged in a deceptive campaign" sound painfully bad-Cold-War-era-spy-movie-synopsis to anyone else? By the way, this so-called "deceptive campaign" would be better called "deductive reasoning." But more on that later. 2) In that case, then the government also has no right to tell a man and his dog, a brother and sister, a pedophile and a little girl, or a group of polygamists that they can't get married. Do we really want to introduce and legalize those choices in America? 3) The title of their argument is "Prop 8 is Wrong," and yet they still say "we let people decide for themselves what's best for them." What? Those two statements exist in a dichotomy. In California, we also like to decide for ourselves what's right and wrong, not have some government-approved, wolf-in-sheep's-clothing moral compass shoved down our throats like some freaky communist dictatorship, thankyouverymuch.

• Don't Buy Their Scare Tactics Proponents of Prop 8 are twisting the truth. Top educators like Superintendent Jack O'Connell and California Teachers agree that Prop 8 has nothing to do with schools. Public schools are required to teach nothing about marriage. Separate facts from fiction. Get real answers about Prop 8 >> Every Major newspaper opposes Prop 8. Find out why >>

Here's the "more on that later" part. What I have found with liberals is that when you give them an inch they take a yard. (If you are somehow unaware that it is, in fact, the liberal agenda driving this proposition, you know now.) 1) Schools don't have to teach about gay marriage now, but what about in a year? Fifteen years? What about in sex education? They're teaching safety about heterosexual relations, and if same-sex marriage is legalized (making homosexuality "normal") then homosexual sex safety will legally need to be taught too -- and sex ed is mandatory to graduate from a public school. There are more weak and easily refuted points like this if you follow the link. I already know why every major newspaper opposes Prop 8: because it falls in line with their flaming liberal agendas.

That is Prop 8. I've given you my analysis of it, and now it's time for yours; I have some questions for you that you can answer in your comment:

1) Do you agree with Prop 8? Yes or no, and why or why not?

2) Do you think passing Prop 8 would be unfair? Yes or no, and why or why not?

3) Do you think that California saying "no" to Prop 8 would open the door to bestiality, incest, pedophilia, and polygamy? Yes or no, and why or why not? If yes, do you think this is wrong? Why or why not?

I'm very interested in hearing some feedback on this. As I've made clear, I'm a strong supporter of "yes" on Prop 8, but I would like to hear the other side's view on it . . . as long as it's supported with facts that actually hold up under the most minimal examination.