A “personal request” on Proposition 8

A letter from a gay acquaintance of mine in California on Proposition 8. (I’m leaving it anonymous because it wasn’t sent directly to me, but forwarded along):

Dear friends, family and colleagues:

I am making a rare personal request. I know there are strong feelings on many issues this election, and I normally would not ask my broad group of friends to share my view specifically on any one issue — I believe reasonable people can disagree about most of our politics.  However, one California proposition in particular will affect me personally and therefore, I need to ask for your help. 

There is an unfair ballot proposition that, if passed, will take away my fundamental rights. It is unfair, it is discriminatory, and it is wrong. This is really important to me. Will you please help me to defeat Prop. 8 on Tuesday?

I hope you are already planning to vote NO. But just in case you’re unsure, I want you to know the real deal. Prop. 8 would eliminate the right to marry for same-sex couples. I trust you agree that eliminating fundamental rights – from anyone – is just wrong. History is filled with examples of such misguided policies. From our own wrong internment of Japanese-Americans during WWII to laws of segregation. Personally, I am very concerned about going down a path of having any group sponsor an amendment of our state constitution to discriminate against any other group based on a majority vote. Where will this thinking lead us? We may not all agree on how to live, but fundamental rights of anyone, regardless of gender, religion, race, heritage or other status should not be subject to a popular contest. It takes two-thirds vote to increase our property taxes in California, but with Prop 8, a simple majority can write discrimination into the constitution against an entire class of California citizens. That is unfair and wrong regardless of how you feel about gay marriage.

Proposition 8 is also harmful. The sponsors of proposition 8 would have you believe there is no impact to their dangerous proposal. Nothing could be further from the truth — real rights are at stake. Rights of inheritance, rights of privacy, rights of supporting our spouses. There are over 1200 rights and responsibilities that are covered by marriage. While California has strong domestic partnership laws, only a fraction of these are covered. Further, our lives go beyond the California border. US Federal rights ranging from retirement and property survivorship, to access to spousal health care are affected. I have yet to hear one argument on what proposition 8 does to support stronger heterosexual marriages. Absolutely no rights of my family, friends or other families have been lost by this year’s historic California Supreme Court’s decision. I am proud that California led the way in repealing the prohibition of different races being able to marry in 1948. In the 1950’s over half of our county”s states still had laws banning such intermarriage. It took until 1967 for the US Supreme Court to find that all these laws fundamentally violated the US Constitution. 

You might be interested to note that the very same arguments were used to support prohibiting inter-racial marriage as are being promoted to discriminate against gay marriage today.  

As a board member of my Synagogue for the past 5 years, I fundamentally support the separation of church and state. This will continue to hold true on this subject. No church will be required to marry those they do not support. Just as today many clergy won’t marry those of different faiths. The decision to marry or not will continue to be a decision by each community and denomination. I am proud that Reform Judiasm has supported same-sex marriages for well over a decade. It has made our community stronger and more inclusive. I fundamentally believe that no person or group should tell anyone else’s religion how to run their affairs. However, I also believe that no religious group should impose their beliefs on the entire state of California and her citizens. The majority of NO on 8 money has come from religious organizations based outside California.

Virtually every major paper in California has recommended against Prop 8. The L.A. Times says it is “a drastic step to strip people of rights.” La Opinión called Prop 8 “an unnecessary initiative”. The San Diego Union Tribune wrote that Prop 8 “offends many Californians’ sense of fairness.” California leaders from both sides of the aisle have also recommended against Proposition 8, including Governor Schwarzennegger and Senator Dianne Feinstein. For more information, please visit www.noonprop8.com.

If my short appeal above and the judgement of others doesn’t convince you, I hope you’ll email me and give me the opportunity to share with you further why I feel so strongly about this. Thank you for reading and listening to my appeal.

Please join me in voting NO on California Prop. 8 on Tuesday. 

Proposition 8 isn’t just about a group’s “agenda” or some big, abstract, philosophical or linguistic debate. It’s about individuals, like the person above — real, living, breathing, loving, caring, and, honestly, frightened people. 

It’s about what freedoms they have, or what freedoms the people of California are going to take away.

It’s about people. Remember that at the polling place.