Just wanted to put in my 2 cents against the folks overturning gay, lesbian and bisexual rights to marry in California. It seems strange to me that in the excitement of electing Obama, the “No on 8” group was poorly funded and organized. On the verge of two historic civil rights advances (well, technically speaking, the victory happened earlier in 2008), one was denied. As a libertarian (perhaps, a “liberal”), I am deeply opposed to any interference by the government in people’s private lives (I am a firm believer in the statement by Pierre Elliott Trudeau, former prime minister of Canada: “The state has no business in the bedrooms of the nation.”.)
So, I suppose the question is, who to blame for this silly Proposition passing? It’s easy to blame the african-americans, who voted 70% in favour of Proposition 8. However, I’m going to blame the Mormons on this one. They funded the Prop 8 team to the tune of $20M. How can a group so deeply committed to separation of church and state be messing around in the politics of California? Isn’t this a violation of their tax-free status? Also, I suppose I should place a portion of the blame on the “no on 8” team, who was underfunded, and by all reports, made no efforts to even make any tentative inroads into the african-american community.
