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Marriage Battle Continues in the Golden State

Marriage Battle Continues in the Golden State
A year ago, mired in debate and campaign rhetoric, the battle to define marriage as only between one man and one woman played out on the California – and on the national – stage. Mainstream polling, in the days and weeks leading up to the election, gave opponents – a grassroots contingent organized under the banner of Equality California – a sense that they couldn’t lose. On the other hand, ProtectMarriage.com, a coalition of grassroots, churches, and organizations, led a coordinated effort bathed in prayer to pass Proposition 8 and add the constitutional protection of marriage between a man and a woman to California law.
At Prop 8’s passage, the dismay of homosexual activists erupted overnight in protests, demonstrations and boycotts. The rallying cry of “2010” echoed across the Internet, as small, grassroots groups burst on the scene to give voice to opponents. Equality California, long an organized advocacy voice in the California Legislature, tried to gather the splintered factions into a reasoned, coherent campaign. After much analysis, they concluded it would be more feasible to wait until 2012 to attempt an initiative to overturn Proposition 8.
Yet individuals and groups intent on overturning Prop 8 had filed two initiatives within six months. Both failed to garner enough signatures. Then, again last week, a coalition of 40 homosexual groups has forged ahead and filed proposed language aimed at the 2010 ballot. Once the language is cleared for circulation, Love Honor Respect would have until April 16 to collect the 700,000 valid signatures to qualify for the November ballot. 
Two respected professors of political science, Gregory B. Lewis of Georgia State University and Charles W. Gossett from California State University, Sacramento, assessed the question, “Why Did Californians Pass Proposition 8?”. Reviewing data from 24 polls since 1985, they examined why the polls got it wrong and predicted the defeat of Proposition 8 in the days leading up to the election. They concluded that most people in California continue to oppose same-sex marriage and surmised that many Californians initially misunderstood Prop 8, but as they learned more about it, they became more aware of its actual meaning and intent. 
While pro-homosexual activists hope to change the minds of California about marriage, Lewis and Gossett determined that an analysis of changing opinions over time lend little credence that public opinion would change enough prior to 2010 – or even 2012 – to support that belief.
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