Ancient Christian Witness

"LOS ANGELES -- California voters have adopted a
constitutional amendment outlawing same-sex marriage, overturning the state
Supreme Court decision that gave gay couples the right to wed just months ago.

The passage of Proposition 8 in Tuesday's election represents a crushing
political defeat for gay rights activists, who had hoped public opinion on the
contentious issue had shifted enough since the state overwhelmingly passed an
earlier gay marriage ban in 2000 to help them defeat the measure.

"We
pick ourselves up and trudge on," Kate Kendell, executive director of the
National Center for Lesbian Rights, said early Wednesday when it appeared the
measure was headed for passage. "There has been enormous movement in favor of
full equality in eight short years. That is the direction this is heading, and
if it's not today or it's not tomorrow, it will be soon."

With almost
all precincts reporting, election returns showed the measure winning with 52
percent. With election officials and others estimating 2 million to 3 million
provisional and absentee ballots remained to be tallied, leaders of the No on 8
campaign said they were not ready to concede.

"Because Prop 8 involves
the sensitive matter of individual rights, we believe it is important to wait
until we receive further information about the outcome," Geoff Kors, director of
Equality California said in a statement Wednesday.

But based on trends
and the locations of the votes still outstanding, the margin of support in favor
of the initiative appeared secure. The Yes on 8 campaign declared victory just
after midnight.

"People believe in the institution of marriage," Frank
Schubert, co-manager of the Yes on 8 campaign said. "It's one institution that
crosses ethnic divides, that crosses partisan divides. ... People have stood up
because they care about marriage and they care a great deal."

Opponents
of the gay marriage ban said Wednesday that one legal challenge was filed and
others were being prepared.

By changing the state constitution to limit
marriage to a man and a woman, Proposition 8 overturns the California Supreme
Court decision that overturned the 2000 ban and legalized same-sex marriage in
the state in mid-June. Since then, an estimated 18,000 gay and lesbian couples,
many of them from other states, have been married.

The measure's passage
represents a personal loss for couples who still hoped to wed, and casts a
shadow of uncertainty on the legal unions of those who already have. Because the
initiative holds that only marriage between a man and a woman is recognized in
the state, legal experts have said it will have to be resolved in court whether
existing gay marriages would be nullified.

Amid uncertainty over when
the amendment takes effect, gay and lesbian couples continued seeking marriage
licenses throughout the state Wednesday. They were successful in some
jurisdictions and not others where county clerks wanted direction before
sanctioning any more same-sex unions.

Jake Rowe, 27, and James Eslick,
29, were in the midst of getting married at Sacramento City Hall Wednesday
morning when someone from the clerk's office stopped the wedding. The two men
had planned to get married next year because "We held in hope that 8 would not
pass," Rowe said.

"I'm thoroughly surprised. I thought Californians had
come to the point where they realized discrimination wasn't right," he
said."