I receive weekly emails from Geoff
Kors, Executive Director for No on Prop 8. Today, I received this email from the group of directors regarding the recent loss. Normally I would not put this on my blog, but I feel that this email should be shared. This was a cause I was very emotionally invested in.
I admit, I was not the person who put a lawn sign on my front yard for the cause. I didn't stand on the corner waving a sign and screaming for Proposition 8. I didn't go door to door to try to sway people's votes a certain direction.....But I regret not doing any of those things.
I
truly thought that California voters would vote for equality. I understand that a No vote on Prop 8 would cause several business to go out of business such as adoption agencies. It's a
horrible thought that a company might go out of business because they stayed strong to their
religious beliefs. But anyway you look at the situation, it all comes down to equal rights.
I
truly believe that every person should be treated
equally and when I heard that Prop 8 passed, I felt confused and I really felt disappointed that the people of California voted Yes.
I KNOW that same-sex
marriages will be legal in the state of California one day. Every person deserves the same rights, no matter what their
orientation may be.
Below is the letter.
"Dear Friend,
We had hoped never to have to write this email. Sadly, fueled by misinformation, distortions and lies, millions of voters went to the polls yesterday and said YES to bigotry, YES to discrimination, YES to second-class status for same-sex couples.
And while the election was close, and millions of votes still remain uncounted, it has become apparent that we lost.
There is no question this defeat is hard. Thousands of people have poured their talents, their time, their resources and their hearts into this struggle for freedom and this fight to have their relationships treated equally. Much has been sacrificed in this struggle.
While we knew the odds for success were not with us, we believed Californians could be the first in the nation to defeat the injustice of discriminatory measures like Proposition 8.And while victory is not ours this day, we know that because of the work done here, freedom, fairness and equality will be ours someday.
Just look at how far we have come in a few decades.Up until 1974 same-sex intimacy was a crime in California. There wasn't a single law recognizing the relationships of same-sex couples until 1984 -- passed by the Berkeley School District. San Francisco did not pass domestic-partner protections until 1990; the state of California followed in 2005. And in 2000, Proposition 22 passed with a 23% majority.
Today, we fought to retain our right to marry and millions of Californians stood with us. Over the course of this campaign everyday Californians and their friends, neighbors and families built a civil rights campaign unequalled in California history.You raised more money than anyone believed possible for an LGBT civil rights campaign.You reached out to family and friends in record numbers -- helping hundreds of thousands of Californians understand what the LGBT civil rights struggle is really about.You built the largest grassroots and volunteer network that has ever been built -- a coalition that will continue to fight until all people are equal.And you made the case to the people of California and to the rest of the world that discrimination -- in any form -- is unfair and wrong.
We are humbled by the courage, dignity and commitment displayed by all who fought this historic battle.Victory was not ours today. But the struggle for equality is not over.
Because of the struggle fought here in California -- fought so incredibly well by the people in this state who love freedom and justice -- our fight for full civil rights will continue.Activist and writer Anne
Lamott writes, "Hope begins in the dark, the stubborn hope that if you just show up and try to do the right thing, the dawn will come. You wait and watch and work: you don't give up."We stand together, knowing... our dawn will come."
- MICHELLE
