It now appears that Proposition 8 in California will pass 52% to 48%.  That proposition will change the State constitution so as to deny marriage rights to same sex partners.

Proposition 8 was headed for a defeat with just 48% of the vote in favor of the proposition going in to the election.

So I call the Faggot Effect at 4 points.

No on Proposition 8 had the highly visible support of A-list Hollywood.  Yes on 8 had the bigots in the Mormon and Catholic churches preaching from the altar and funneling money in from across the country.  Given the opposition to Proposition 8 by “culture-makers,” I suspect that there were a large number of people who didn’t want to say they were for 8, but voted for it.  At least there is some solace in the fact that some people feel that supporting discrimination is shameful.

Ironically, the large turnout for Obama of church-going African-Americans, who generally were in favor of Proposition 8, may have helped push Yes on 8 over the top to victory.  Obama was against Proposition 8 (although Yes on 8 sent out a direct mail piece implying otherwise), as was Governor Schwarzenegger, but neither used any political capital to oppose the measure apart from their public position.

It’s a shameful day when we amend the constitution to deny people civil rights that in no way infringe on the rights of others.  This vote makes the sweet success of Obama bittersweet, and reminds me that while we have traveled far, we have so much further to go, and little time to rest.

What an odd feeling to have your civil rights, and somehow your very value as a person put to the popular vote.  And to lose.

The good news is that a similar initiative several years ago passed with 61% support.  The trend toward tolerance is in our favor.

In the words of Joe Solomonese, Executive Director of HRC:  “Remember, our marriages didn’t begin with a decision of the court, and they will not end with a vote of the people.”

Voters in California face a choice this election.

They can vote to change the state constitution to outlaw same sex marriage, which is the proposal put forth in Proposition 8, or they can defeat this proposal by voting NO on California Proposition 8.

I believe that enshrining discrimination into a constitution is always wrong.  I believe that the constitution should strive to protect and enlarge people’s rights, not decrease them.  My opposition to Proposition 8 is solidified by the scare tactics being used by the Proportion 8 proponents - the regular bogeymen of imagined prosecution of clergy and indoctrination of children, as well as additional tactics to threaten and shake down donors to No on 8.

The vote looks very close.  While both the moderate California Republican Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and Presidential candidate Obama have voiced opposition to Proposition 8, neither has been particularly active or visible in the effort to defeat the Proposition.  Hey, Obama, use some of that excess political capital to make sure that the high African-American voter turnout (African-Americans favor the amendment at about 58%, according to one poll) doesn’t also put Proposition 8 over the top in California.  We can only hope that the younger Americans (who overwhelmingly oppose Proposition 8) who are also energized by Obama more than offset the potential supporters.

A friend of mine recently told me that he’d heard his pastor yell at the congregation for the last four weeks about how they had to go out and vote in favor of the proposition.  It was only after he actually did a little research and thought about the proposition that he came to the conclusion that he had to vote NO.  I just hope that there are a lot more thinking people in the pews out there who will do their own thinking.

How is this relevant on a Palin site?  Palin has said that she would support outlawing same-sex marriage at the Federal level (a position not shared by McCain - but he has voiced support for Proposition 8 in California - his is a “leave it to the states” approach).  Palin sees herself as a warrior of the Christian Right, someone on a mission from God.  When she talks about “cleaning up government,” she isn’t just talking about garden variety Ted Stevens-like corruption.  She’s talking about legislating morality.  And she doesn’t intend to stop with same sex marriage or outlawing abortion.  If you know anything at all about their goals, you know that these are just the tip of the iceberg on the Christian Right’s agenda.  And anyone who believes in freedom and civil rights in this country should be very afraid of the prospect of a person with Palin’s views taking a position of power.

“In Germany, they came first for the Communists, And I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Communist;

And then they came for the trade unionists, And I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a trade unionist;

And then they came for the Jews, And I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Jew;

And then . . . they came for me . . . And by that time there was no one left to speak up.”

- Pastor Martin Niemöller