Same-sex marriage proponents fail to get Prop 8 on ballot

By Jack Wagner

Due to the inability of activists to gain enough signatures, the vote to repeal Proposition 8, an amendment which restricted constitutional marriage to opposite-sex couples, will remain off the ballot in November.

It would have taken more than 694,000 signatures from registered voters to put the initiative to repeal Proposition 8 on the ticket.

The activist groups like Love Honor Cherish and Sign for Equality had until Monday, April 12 to collect the required amount of signatures. The actual number of signatures gathered remains undisclosed, but according to some gay rights activists the number wasn't anywhere near the required amount.

Reactions to the decision have been fairly consistent among students at Santa Clara, mostly floating somewhere between confused shock and disappointment.

"I'm very surprised because Proposition 8 has been such a hot button issue," freshman Megan Wong said.

Other students have much more opinionated viewpoints, such as that of freshman Randi Vanible, who called the decision "despicable."

Proposition 8 eliminates the right of same-sex couples to marry in the state of California.

It was passed on Nov. 4, 2008 with 6,838,107 people, or 52.3 percent of the voters giving it a "yes" vote. 6,246,463 people, or 47.7 percent of the voters gave it a "no" vote.

"I think that gay people should be able to do whatever they want and its horrible that other people think they can tell people what to do," said Natalia Pavlina, a freshman from Massachusetts. "I think every state should be as progressive as Massachusetts."

One struggle activists encountered in trying to get the initiative on the ballot was every signature must be gathered in person, by using pen and paper, and online petitions will not be accepted.

State law also dictates that there is a gap of only a few months when the required number of signatures can be gathered.

According to the Los Angeles Times, many of the gay rights groups found the short time between the original passing of Proposition 8, the trial this past January and the November 2010 ballot was not enough to properly set up an effective campaign.

Major donors who oppose Proposition 8 have also held back contributions, wanting to save up their resources until a larger and better-planned push can be made in 2012, the next time the issue will be able to be voted on.

Additionally, polls are showing support for same-sex marriage has only been increasing slowly.

While gay rights groups are disheartened, supporters of the original Proposition 8 passing have been rejoicing at the news that the issue will be left off the ballot. They claim that this lack of support shows that the majority of people have moved on from the issue and have just accepted that for the time being, only heterosexual couples should be married.

A poll conducted by the Public Policy Institute of California recently found that more voters oppose same-sex marriage than support it, with 50 percent supporting only heterosexual marriage and 45 percent supporting both heterosexual and homosexual marriages.

To freshman Stephen Lam, this trend and the failure of the signature campaign is shocking.

"I'm surprised for California, being a democratic state, that it hasn't been on the ballot," he said. "I feel like California awareness hasn't been very good on the issue."

Two-thirds of young voters support same-sex marriage in the state of California, according to the Los Angeles Times. Whether or not the issue passes, it will be the vote of Santa Clara students and their peers who may make the difference in deciding if Proposition 8 will stand or be repealed if it makes an appearance on the upcoming 2012 ballot.

Contact Jack Wagner at jcwagner@scu.edu or (408) 554-4546.

nak%202_opt.jpegnak_opt.jpegIMG_2138_opt.jpegfire_opt.jpeg