24 Facts About Proposition 8

1.

Proposition 8, known informally as Prop 8, was a California ballot proposition and a state constitutional amendment intended to ban same-sex marriage; it passed in the November 2008 California state elections and was later overturned in court.

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2.

Proposition 8 countermanded the 2008 ruling by adding the same provision as in Proposition 22 to the California Constitution, providing that "only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California", thereby superseding the 2008 ruling.

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3.

Legal challenges to Proposition 8 were presented by opponents quickly after its approval.

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4.

Passage of Proposition 8 received widespread media coverage over the amendment's effect on the concurrent 2008 presidential and congressional elections, as well as the pre-election effects Proposition 8 had on California's reputation as a historically LGBT-friendly state and the same-sex marriage debate that had started after same-sex marriage was legalized in Massachusetts through a 2004 court decision.

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5.

Proposition 8 was created by opponents of same-sex marriage prior to the final ruling on In re Marriage Cases as a voter ballot initiative, and voted on at the time of the November 2008 elections.

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6.

In Strauss v Horton, the California Supreme Court upheld Proposition 8, but allowed the existing same-sex marriages to stand .

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7.

George Hugh Niederauer as Archbishop of San Francisco campaigned in 2008 in favor of the Proposition 8, and claimed to have been instrumental in forging alliances between Catholics and Mormons to support the measure.

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8.

Proposition 8 attended and addressed the audience at the "March for Marriage", a rally opposing marriage for same-sex couples, in Washington, D C, in June 2014.

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9.

The church produced and broadcast to its congregations a program describing the support of the Proposition 8, and describing the timeline it proposes for what it describes as grassroots efforts to support the Proposition 8.

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10.

The legislative ministry of the Unitarian Universalists opposed Proposition 8, and organized phone banks toward defeating the measure.

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11.

Amnesty International condemned Proposition 8, saying that "states should never withhold rights based on minority status".

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12.

In 2010, the documentary film 8: The Mormon Proposition 8 premiered to sell-out audiences at the Sundance Film Festival.

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13.

All ten of the state's largest newspapers editorialized against Proposition 8, including the Los Angeles Times, and the San Francisco Chronicle.

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14.

Some supporters of Proposition 8 reported receiving death threats, some of which claimed to be "stemming from Prop 8".

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15.

Passage of Proposition 8 led to opponents responding by publicly shaming its supporters as bigots and boycotting supporters' businesses and employers.

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16.

Opponents of Proposition 8 called it "hypocritical" that its supporters would refer to their support of the measure as the "will of the people" while seeking to overturn voter-approved campaign disclosure laws.

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17.

The majority decision was that Proposition 8 "carved out a limited [or 'narrow'] exception to the state equal protection clause"; Justice Moreno dissented that exceptions to the equal protection clause could not be made by any majority since its whole purpose was to protect minorities against the will of a majority.

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18.

Until overturned by Hollingsworth v Perry, the ruling established that Proposition 8 was valid as voted, but that marriages performed before it went into effect would remain valid.

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19.

The opinion, written by Judge Stephen Reinhardt and joined by Judge Michael Hawkins, states that Proposition 8 did nothing more than lessen the status and dignity of gays and lesbians, and classify their relationships and families as inferior to those of opposite-sex couples.

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20.

Court concluded that the trial court had correctly found Proposition 8 to have no purpose other than to impose the majority's private disapproval of gays, lesbians, and their relationships through the public law, and to take away from them the designation of marriage and its recognized societal status.

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21.

The findings of fact and expert witness testimony in District Court played an important role in this appellate decision, emphasizing that it is unreasonable to believe Proposition 8 was enacted to: promote childrearing by biological parents, encourage procreation, be cautious in social change, protect religious liberty, or control children's education.

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22.

Proposition 8 stated that "gays and lesbians are not a suspect or quasi-suspect class" and are thus not entitled to the courts' increased scrutiny of laws that affect them.

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23.

Proposition 8 urged judicial restraint, that the justices should refrain from striking down Proposition 8.

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24.

Ninth Court's ruling was vacated although it affirmed the district court ruling, since the Supreme Court later determined that the proponents of Proposition 8 had not had standing to appeal the district court's ruling.

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