How did Prop 8 create this firestorm?
The passage of Proposition 8 triggered a fierce response from the gay community because of the timing and scale of Mormon actions:
- Overwhelming Force. Mormons are only 2% of Californians, but were 77% of the personal money, and 80-90% of the volunteer effort for Prop 8. 45% of all money coming from outside into California for Prop 8 came from Utah. It felt out of proportion. It felt like bullying. It felt personal.
- Against the Tide. On election night, Americans overcame prejudice and voted for an exceptional man. We joined the world in rejoicing. And then Prop 8 won. Americans voted for Obama and against us.
- Culture Wars. We’ve been political pawns for decades, and this election cycle gay issues were not the focal point. It felt nice to not have our personal lives used as political footballs by the parties. Prop 8 put us back in the center.
- Theft. You don’t feel so bad about $100 you never had, but $100 stolen from you feels terrible. The California Supreme Court determined that gay people had an equal right to marriage, then Prop 8 took it away.
- Stealth. Mormons hid their identities in their neighborhood actions and kept most money donations under the $1,000 reporting limit, so gay people didn’t realize the scale of the effort until late in the campaign. It crept up on us.
- Lies. The Yes on 8 ad campaign lied, and in creepy associations made it only about kids and schools with the hackneyed implication of pedophilia and recruiting. While it succeeded in scaring the ignorant, and it offended gay people.
- AIDS. Gay people experienced heady liberation in the 70s and surreal AIDS devastation through the 90s. We’ve had a recent calm. We started to think our community could settle down into a comfortable “middle age” of life and loves. Having children became common. Sweet old Lesbian couples became our role models! Then Mormons came to make sure the law did not support us.
- Civil Rights. Same-sex marriage was not at the top of gay activists’ agendas. Same-sex marriage was simply the heartfelt desire of many individual lesbian and gay couples to be fully, legally, demonstrably tied to each other, and increasingly to their children. The Prop 8 victory somehow turned that simple desire of loving couples into the civil rights issue for the whole community. Some magic switch flipped it from personal to political.
- Shock. I think most gay people were as shocked as anyone that we cared so much about this issue. We thought we might win, and the hurt of Prop 8 surprised us.
By targeting gay people, Mormon actions for Prop 8 have woken a sleeping giant.
How will this end?
As George Clooney put it, “At some point in our lifetime, gay marriage won’t be an issue, and everyone who stood against this civil right will look as outdated as George Wallace standing on the school steps keeping James Hood from entering the University of Alabama because he was black.”
