Nov 07, 2008  |  By: CHRIS JOHNSON  | COMMENTS     

Voters in California dealt a crushing blow to thousands of married gay couples this week, narrowly approving a constitutional amendment banning same-sex nuptials there.

Officials with the campaign fighting Proposition 8 were unwilling to concede defeat Wednesday, arguing that between three and four million absentee and provisional ballots had yet to counted.

But hopes of defeating the measure diminished quickly Wednesday. The Los Angeles Times, San Francisco Chronicle and Associated Press all reported the amendment had sufficient support to pass. With more than 96 percent of the vote counted, the measure was leading with 52 percent, according to the Chronicle.

“No on 8” officials were banking on at least three million absentee and provisional ballots to overcome the deficit of around 400,000 votes. They expected California Secretary of State Debra Bowen to announce the final tally after Blade deadline.

Proponents of Proposition 8 declared victory Wednesday on the web site Protectmarriage.com.

In a conference call Wednesday, Geoff Kors, executive director of Equality California and a “No on 8” executive committee member, said opponents of the ban must wait to hear the final results from the secretary of state because of the “fundamental rights that are at stake.”

“Because Prop 8 involves the sensitive matter of individuals’ rights, we believe it is important to wait until we receive further information,” he said.

Kate Kendell, executive director of the National Center for Lesbian Rights and another “No on 8” executive committee member, said during the conference call that “we’re not in a position to call this [fight].”

“We really need to wait until there is something authoritative issued by the secretary of state, and until that happens, we just do not feel that it is appropriate for us to make our own call absent the counting of millions of ballots,” she said.

Kors acknowledged that older people, who tend to be less supportive of same-sex marriage, often vote by early absentee ballots, but he said while they may make up some portion of the uncounted votes, other ballots would come from “more progressive” voters who mailed their ballots in before the election.

Kors and Kendell noted that they, for example, voted by absentee ballot.

Amidst the uncertainty, individuals and organizations were promising a slew of lawsuits against the measure.

On Wednesday, the Associated Press reported that San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera intended to file a challenge to Proposition 8 in the California Supreme Court. Robin Tyler and Diane Olson, the first gay couple married in Los Angeles, announced they also intended to file a lawsuit based on “a new and controversial legal argument as to why Prop. 8 is unconstitutional.”

The American Civil Liberties Union, Lambda Legal and the National Center for Lesbian Rights meanwhile filed a writ petition Wednesday urging the California high court to invalidate Proposition 8.

If the amendment is enacted, there will be legal questions regarding the status of 18,000 gay couples that have already wed in California.

State Attorney General Jerry Brown said the measure would not be retroactive, but Kors told the New York Times earlier this month that he would not be surprised “if people trying to eliminate constitutional rights would try to annul or divorce people that are married.”

The battle over Proposition 8 was one of the most expensive social issue campaigns in U.S. history. Donations for campaigns on both sides of the issue totaled nearly $74 million.

Opponents of the ban on same-sex marriage raised slightly more funds than ban supporters, according to the Los Angeles Times. As of Monday, the “No on 8” campaign had raised $37.8 million while the “Yes on 8” campaign had raised $35.9 million.

Exit polls from CNN broke down the votes for Proposition 8 according to ethnicity. While 55 percent of white voters and 52 percent of Hispanics voted against the measure, 69 percent of black voters approved of Proposition 8, according to exit polls.

H. Alexander Robinson, executive director of the National Black Justice Coalition, said in California there was “an unprecedented alliance” of black leaders working with the campaign to defeat Proposition 8, but the amount of time and resources following the May court ruling bringing gay nuptials to

California were not optimal for winning more support from black voters.

“We knew going in that opinions in African-American communities on the issue of marriage were difficult,” he said. “I think that the kind of long-term investments, true alliance building and on-the-ground public education that needed to take place quickly frankly didn’t happen.”

Robinson said the National Black Justice Coalition aided the fight to stop Proposition 8 by holding meetings with black voters; convening forums for black legislators in the California General Assembly on same-sex marriage; partnering with the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People to distribute information; and developing an 84-page document outlining the benefits of same-sex unions.

Voters in two other states also approved measures incorporating bans on same-sex unions into state constitutions, but in those places gay nuptials were already outlawed by state ...