Gay Marriage: An Electoral Liability 

Don, as a Catholic Black Dem in Los Angeles, I hope we can bring the blessings of a Prop 8 to your state soon. And CT while we're at it.

Well.... I didn't support him. I watched a couple of interviews LIVE where both Joe Biden ( a man I've always admired) and Barak Obama (another man I admired) said they are against gay marriage about two weeks before the election. That did it for me. Right there and then I changed my vote to Ralph Nader. He's openly supportive of gay marriage. He doesn't pander. It' absolutely INFURIATING that the Democratic candidates can openly tell me on live tv that they do NOT support my right to marry and still expect me to give them my vote and support. SCREW THEM!!!

Perhaps the article's tagline could be stated more fairly. The passing of Prop 8 was not the result of an Obama victory. This is dangerously oversimplifying the matter. It was the result of ignorance and bigotry promoted by a religious institution through a massive ad campaign whose strategy was fear. If I recall correctly, we were winning this thing in the polls until the Mormon Church poured funds into Yes on 8. Polls are usually conducted with either registered voters or likely voters. Thus if the embers of fear and intolerance hadn't been stoked by the ads, people might've looked past their prejudices and defeated this hateful amendment.

To Kill T.: Your comments are gross, vile, and absolutely full of hate. When you are filled with such vitriol for one marginalized community, how do you expect anyone else to recognize your humanity as a queer person. Not only are you a bigot, but you hide behind false names; you are nothing but a coward and a filthy example of a human being. With people like you out there, may God have mercy on all of us!

As a queer latino activist myself, I am sick and tired of WHITE gay men and lesbians always wanting to bemoan our losses and lay full (or a majority) of the blame on so-called socially conservative Black and Brown communities. Need I remind you that it was conservative WHITE churches that put this proposition on the ballot and then decided to court religious communities of color. Meanwhile, the WHITE gay community did near to NOTHING in communities of color (like they usually do). Your racism is equally to blame because how can both sides (white gays and straight folks of color) work together when they are both standing on each other's neck. Then queer folks of color are left in the middle marginalized and scorned on both sides looking at both houses, both communities burn to the ground in their hatred for one another. Yes, it was hatred, intolerance, and ignorance that helped pass Prop 8, but it was both HOMOPHOBIA and RACISM that helped pass the measure and prevented coalition work.

I assume that this story is about the importance of Hickland, because, gee... the portrait-studio photo of his face is so much BIGGER than the text of the STORY. Narcissism, anyone?

The exit poll results paint a jarring picture. While we cannot erase the fact that the African-American vote went 70% in favor of discrimination, we must be careful to avoid a racist backlash in our community. The problem is religiously-based homophobia, most fierce among the Mormons. We are entitled to our anger, but we must move beyond it to erase Proposition 8 from the California consitution. Ultimately, our love is more potent than their hate.

Thank you, Aaron, for a well stated article that touches on all the things I'm thinking and feeling. It would be wonderful, now that he's safely President-elect, if Obama would issue a statement at least recognizing what a traumatic and disappointing evening last night was for a community that gave him overwhelming support in the election.