what is your opinion of the many many Democrats that voted in favor of Prop 8?

[IndianaJones]

Are they bigots? Misguided?

I've seen some polls on the way African Americans and Hispanics voted. I'm almost scared to ask, but was there any polling of Asian Americans?

[Lucky 13]

1. As has been demonstrated on DU in the past, even "progressive" democrats aren't immune to homophobia

It's a sad sad thing.

[sam sarrha]

10. the bigots have framed it in Religious Morality, when morality enters the discussion, reason exits

as well as good sense, good will and good manners.

[question everything]

13. More like pandering (nt)

[question everything]

14. Delete, dupe (nt)

[polichick]

2. I would guess that in many cases religion has clouded their judgment.

[YOY]

3. I think that Margaret Cho pointed out that many FOR gay marriage might mistakenly write "YES"

Instead of realizing that the prop was for BANNING of gay marriage.

Just a thought. Perhaps not fully valid. We do have some bigots.

[TomInTib]

9. I agree, fully. I might have been one of them.

I live in a very blue area, (Marin County, CA), and I was amazed at all of the "No on 8" stickers and signs I was seeing in Tiburon. I actually thought my neighbors were against gay marriage and civil rights until my girlfriend explained it to me.

I (like many others, I am sure) just don't pay much attention to Props on the State slate.

[Why Syzygy]

18. I stumbled on that as well.

It was probably written that way in order to confuse.

[Sebastian Doyle]

22. To add to the confusion, "liberal talk radio" stations were running the "yes on h8" ads

But that was a matter of corporate radio ownership and the fact that a company like Clear Channel will sell ad time on market basis, meaning it goes out to all the radio formats in that market. Right wing talk, left wing talk, rock, country, classical, elevator music, hip hop, whatever.

Hell, AM 1090 up here runs these PSA's that feature the voice of the fucking Chimp himself. And I cringe every time they play one. But it's not the station itself that runs them, it's CBS radio.

[pipi_k]

28. I agree....which is why

I had to double check and triple check my intended answers on the State ballot questions here

because "yes" or "no" don't always mean what we intend them to mean when we're voting

[droidamus2]

35. Shouldn't happen

The initiative writers in California used to do that all the time that is write propositions that if you voted YES you were voting against it and if you voted NO you were voting for it. As I remember they made that illegal or at least that kind of wording was not allowed to appear as the official ballot wording. I forget who it is but there is an entity responsible for approving the official wording and I think they can even change the wording to make it clear what a particular vote means. I guess that doesn't keep them from naming the proposition to ban gay marriage something like 'The Marriage Rights Initiative' that might make me think that it was to give people the right to marry rather than taking away the right.

[mike_c]

4. of course they're bigots....

I don't care what other classes they belong to-- voting against another class's human rights because you don't like/fear/distrust/whatever the characteristic that defines their class is bigotry, plain and simple.

[Ian David]

5. I think they're walking piles of shit. n/t

[Sabriel]

6. They're hypocrites of the worst kind n/t

[ComtesseDeSpair]

7. Misguided bigots.

Any minority who voted Yes on Prop 8 should be absolutely ashamed of themselves.

[orwell]

8. They are afraid...

...that is what drives many illogical decisions.

There are all types of Democrats. Just having a party affiliation doesn't mean you can't be ignorant or fearful.

[Stellabella]

11. Bigots, pure and simple.

There's no excuse in the 21st century (or any century, for that matter) for this kind of bigotry.

[JustFiveMoreMinutes]

12. Sins of Others

It's always easy to vote against the 'sins' of others.

As long as 'I' am forgiven for adultery, fornication, drunkeness, bearing falsew witness, gambling, using birth control, eating pork, missing Sunday school, lying, etc etc.. but I AM NOT gay....

well then why can't I VOTE AGAINST the SIN that I'm not involved in?

Makes complete HYPOCRITICAL SENSE to me............

REALLY PROTECT MARRIAGE, OUTLAW DIVORCE!

[PennyP]

15. Some are bigonts, others misguided.

First, there WERE a number of folks apparently who thought that voting FOR 8 was a vote for gay marriage (one MORE reason why the whole process for propositions sucks). Then there are the true bigots, who hate gays for no whatever reason. Then there are the misguided, who are not filled with hate, but are uncomfortable with the whole thing and haven't been educated on the subject.

Remember, it took YEARS of drilling it into the populaces heads that no race is inferior, and only now are there enough non-racist whites to elect and AA president. And I mean DRILLING... all through my childhood there were lessons in school on AA culture, there were public service commercials celebrating them, there were AA role models in positions of power in entertainment and politics.

But even as a long time Californian, I never learned a damn thing about gay civil rights until the past 5 years of living in the bay area. I voted against 8 myself, but just wanted to point out that for your average person not in touch with gay culture, the whole issue is almost invisible to them. For some of them, Ellen is literally the only person on their gaydar. Many are not hateful bigots, they just need to be taught, and there are so few high-profile gay folks to teach them because many keep their gayness private, if not completely hidden.

[Clovis Sangrail]

16. the yes on 8 campaign pushed the right buttons

"tradition" "morality" "sanctity of marriage" blah blah blah

The no on 8 folks could have neutralized support from the people who buy that sort of stuff simply by coming at it from the tack of "don't let government tell our churches what they can/can't do"
Instead they let themselves be framed as the 'other'.

[Libertyfirst]

31. Don't you mean told the right lies? n/t

[OnionPatch]

17. I think a lot of them are older.

I don't know about Hispanics or African Americans, but out of all the Dems I know, there are just a few homophobes and they're all older. And I mean much older. I'm 49 and am not putting myself in the "older" age group. ;) I'm talking about my mother's generation, the 70+ age group. (Not *my* mom, though. She believes in rights for everyone.) A few of the very old of the Democratic party could be just enough to tip the scales. :shrug:

[HEyHEY]

19. bigots

[ben_meyers]

20. My opinion is that they listened to Biden

during the VP debate when he said:

"No. Barack Obama nor I support redefining from a civil side what constitutes marriage."

So are they bigots too? There doesn't seem to be much ambiguity in that statement.

[magellan]

21. Bigoted ignoramuses on the order of Freepers n/t

[tjwash]

23. The Bradley Effect does not apply to race anymore, but is alive and well against the GLBT community

If the theory that Latino/Catholics flooded the polls and beat it was right, then Prop 4, which was an equally as fucked up backdoor anti-abortion proposition here, would not have been as soundly trounced as it was Tuesday night. There was really no battle at the polls on that one. The one thing that Latinos in Cali are very passionate about, it is their very vocal and fervent anti-abortion stances.

Nope. I think that the people of California are just that bigoted against GLBT's. Sucks to have to admit that, but I have to. Finger pointing is useless at this juncture. We can pretty much spread the blame for this one across all the demographics.

The thing is, that it looked very promising on all of the polls leading up to the race, and the exit polling looked very good too. It just makes one realize that the "Bradley Effect" is alive and well. We seem to have defeated it in regards to race, but it is still very much a factor, and at work against the Gay and Lesbian community.

[Kaleva]

24. My opinion

If one accepts their time,money,and votes,it is rather hypocritical to cut down the Dems who voted in favor of Prop 8.

[Goat or Panic]

25. I work with someone

who voted for Obama and "Yes" on 8. He's trying to defend it by saying that domestic partnerships are exactly the same. To the credit of my other co-workers, he is being challenged on it. He's not a mean guy, and said he would vote to support any other gay rights issue, he just thinks that "marriage" should be left alone.

That seems to be the general feeling of a few straight people, even those who voted "No."
Ultimately, I think people just get a sick kick out of controlling other peoples lives and happiness.

[hunter]

26. Most are this generation's misguided "Separate but Equal" supporters.

Having a whites only drinking fountain is okay so long as there's another fountain for everyone else.



http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/treasures/trr057.html

There were lots of people who considered themselves to be very good Christians who sincerely believed that.

Same here.

[GodlessBiker]

27. They are the communities in which economic insecurity, and hence a reliance...

on religion and a perceived need to find "the other" to divert attention to their own lack of security, is great.

Where existential security is stronger, as in Europe and Canada with their extensive safety net for their people, we find that the urge to deny the LGBT community or other groups their rights as a way to maximize their own security is lessened.

To eliminate this kind of bigoted and intolerant response, the economic conditions of the communities who voted for Prop 8 must be enhanced.

[JerseygirlCT]

29. yes - both

And it just shows that no one is immune. And that party identification doesn't really describe the person - either way.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

30. About the same as the bigots who scapegoat blacks, hispanics, and mormons.

[PatSeg]

32. California generally has ten or more propositions

on every ballot and as a rule, they are very confusing. The average voter doesn't always understand what they are voting for or against.

Prior to Tuesday, there were demonstrators with signs that said things like, "Proposition 8 = Less Government", "Proposition 8 = Free Speech", and "Proposition 8 = Education". No mention of the words "marriage" or "gay".

People got bombarded with mailers and phone calls, which were often deceptive as well.

This mailer makes it look like Obama supported Proposition 8!



I've received more mailers on this issue than any other!

Ballot initiatives need to go. Laws need to be made by LAW MAKERS, not by my next door neighbor or the guy at the end of the bar!

[nadinbrzezinski]

33. If anything it proves the system is broken and highly manipulated by

forces, in this case, outside the state

The idea is a tempting one, but it is truly a BAD idea and at least in my view needs to be scrapped

As is... civil rights cannot be left to the common man or woman... if we did... jim crow laws would still be in place in the south and my hubby and I would not have been able to marry

[katty]

34. Mormon $ & other religious $ was 'brought' into our state, CA, and

fueled the expensive TV ads/other media (Yes on 8) - ads that were filled with blatant lies and transparent, self-righteous, homophobic venom. (even if you happened to be a more liberal leaning voter (+ religious) on these issues the ads were in yr face). The counter to these expensive ads could not catch up with the blitz and damage of these ads. This was a close vote.