Proposition 8 Passed!!

I know that most of you have probably already heard that Prop 8 passed 52% to 48%. I am so glad that the election is over. All this Prop 8 stuff has been going on for a long time now. At the end of August we started walking precincts. We each took a list and knocked on every door. If someone was home we were just getting feedback about how they would vote...definitely yes, probably yes, undecided, probably no, or definitely no. This went on four 3 or 4 weekends. I participated in the first walk. I had the unfortunate luck of getting an apartment complex. Yes you can get to each door very fast but I learned very quickly that the apartment complex crowd tends to be pretty young and pretty liberal. Many people had not heard of Prop
8 yet so we had to explain that a vote for Prop 8 would help restore traditional marriage. Some people didn't understand what that meant so you had to spell it out for them. I had a lot of people tell me NO. Also I found that a lot of people were kind of indifferent but would just say that they thought people should be able to do what they want. One guy answered the door, I did my spill and he looked at me like the biggest bigot and said "My sister is gay!". Then he slammed the door. I wish he would have left the door open long enough for me to tell him that so is my cousin and that I have a lot of gay friends. I actually knocked on the door of a gay couple too. They didn't know that Prop 8 was the same sex proposition so I had to explain. They told me "No way in hell" and shut the door. Then while I was knocking other doors I would still here them talking about the situation. The next couple of walks we couldn't get to because we were moving or working.

In the next weeks that followed many phone calls were made to understand the positon of those we called. Then once we knew who the undecided folks were, more phone calls were made to explain the issues. There was also a big effort to get signs put up all over the community. Most of the signs didn't stay up long, so more signs had to be put up. In fact there have been a number of people caught taking down Yes on Prop 8 signs. We also had bumper stickers distributed. Then groups of people stood on busy street corners random nights of the week with Yes on Prop 8 banners and signs. All of this was a very organized effort.

This campaign has generated more money from both sides than any propostition. We were all asked to donate. The ad campaigns were pretty frustrating.The NO side claimed that this proposition would take away rights. They compared those in favor of Prop 8 to those people who allowed the Japenese Americans in WWII to be put into camps. They also made reference to the racism during the civil rights era. They kept saying "no matter what your feelings are about marriage for no on prop 8." Don't discriminate. Doesn't this prop have everything to do with your feelings about marriage. Most of our ads focused on school children.

In the last week alone there was a lot of time and energy put into the campaign by a lot of people. Brandon and I wrote notes and attached them to a list of facts on Prop 8 to send to a number of people that couldn't be reached by knocking doors or calling. We wrote the notes and envelopes by hand. Then on Saturday there was a door hanging effort. Brandon was gone so I represented us both. Our ward alone had over 3,000 hangers to deliver. There were two shifts. I went in the morning and went out with Tara and her mom Joan. I went home and had lunch and went back in the afternoon with Stacy. Then at 5:00 pm to 9:00pm we called voters to ask them to vote for Prop 8. It was suppose to be a list of people that had already said yes but it was definitely a mix of everything. I also called Sunday night and Monday night.

It is amazing to me how many people don't even know what the whole thing is all about. I called a woman who is lesbian. She told me that she didn't understand how I could feel good about taking people's rights away and how I could feel good about being such a bigot. I said that I have no problems with same sex couples having the same rights as married couples. I explained that if Prop 8 passed same sex couples would still enjoy the rights like health insurance, tax benefits, etc. She put the phone aside and asked her partner if that was true. Then she told me that she didn't know that. She continued to ask why this Prop was such a big deal. I explained some of the complications with regards to religious clergy and school children. She asked why teaching the school kids was such a big deal. I explained I knew that eventually children would learn about same sex couples but that parents should have the right to decide when and in what manner these things should be taught. I told her it was like when my parents pulled me out of sex education growing up. She also asked about our ads about a lesbian teacher taking her class to a same sex wedding. She explained when she was growing up they needed permission slips to do these kinds of things. I told her that these children did have permission slips but that if a ceramony was on school property they would not. I also explained what a hard position that put any parent or children that would not allow the children to go. At the end I thanked her for taking the time to talk with me. I am sure I didn't change her vote but at least she knows that we aren't trying to take away the rights that exsist with domestic partnership. I was shaking by the end.

Yesterday morning I went to hang more door hangers. We did that until around four. Then we made phone calls reminding yes voters to vote until 7:30 pm. We all knew that it was very close. I know that even though it passed this is not over.

I was very impressed with how the church is so organized. It was also a great opportunity for me to meet a lot of people in my ward. Thank you for all of you who aren't living in California but took the time to pray and fast over this issue.