(AP: Sacramento) In a move that has sent ripples of shock around the nation, California voters approved "Proposition 8" by a narrow margin Tuesday night, thus amending the California state constitution to forbid interracial marriage. The text of Proposition 8 reads:
"Shall the California Constitution be changed to eliminate the right of certain couples to marry providing that no marriage between a person of the white race and a person of any other race is valid or recognized in California?"
The controversial amendment was widely expected to fail, as pre-election polling indicated a slight lead in voters who opposed the amendment. Massive protests have already begun on a nationwide level, with over 300,000 marchers taking to the streets of New York City alone. Large protests have also occurred in the cities of Los Angeles, San Francisco, Miami, Boston, and Washington D.C.
The proposition was heavily sponsored by the LDS (Mormon) church, with millions of dollars imported from Utah to help the amendment pass, as well as a myriad of other groups that included the Aryan Nations, the Neo-Nazi Party, the Ku Klux Klan, and certain conservative churches from Louisiana, Texas, and Georgia. Racially-diverse groups of protesters have gathered around Mormon temples, white Southern Baptist churches, Aryan compounds, and government buildings across the country, holding hands, carrying signs, and blocking traffic. Fifteen people were arrested in Bakersfield, California for blocking an intersection by handcuffing themselves together in a line that spanned the street while holding signs opposing the measure.
President-Elect Barack Obama held a press conference within hours of the amendment's passage, stating that "This kind of divisiveness borne of hate and fear has no place in America. The Obama administration will take every possible step to remedy this gross miscarriage of justice." Joining him on stage, twenty-three Democratic U.S. Senators stood in solidarity, vowing to fight the implementation of Proposition 8 with every resource available.
In the blogosphere, liberal websites DailyKos and DemocraticUnderground (DU) were swamped with individuals decrying the "hateful" Proposition 8. Thousands upon thousands of members posted solidarity messages to non-white citizens and vowed to march against the amendment in two massive protests currently being organized by the ACLU for Washington, D.C. and Los Angeles. Donations from liberal websites to Anti-Proposition 8 organizations started pouring in shortly after the amendment's victory became clear.
"It's blatantly unconstitutional," said DU member Oktoberain, who opposes Proposition 8. "It doesn't matter if their religion tells them that it's wrong. In America, nobody's religion is allowed to become the law. The First Amendment guarantees this."
DailyKos member ThinkBlue1966 agreed, saying "Not only is this an obvious insertion of religion into secular law, it's also a violation of the 14th Amendment's requirement that the government treat all citizens equally under the law."
Viewpoints on the other side of the issue were just as intense.
"The Bible tells us the story of Cain," stated Mormon activist David (surname withheld by request.) "The descendants of Cain are the brown-skinned people of today. They are being punished by God, and it would be against Heavenly Father's will to allow them to mix their blood with ours."
Another Proposition 8 advocate who asked to remain nameless argued that non-whites still have the right to marry. "They just can't marry white people. If they want to get married, let them marry each other. Why do they think they deserve 'special rights?'"
National broadcast networks and media outlets have scheduled intense coverage of the aftermath of the election, with MSNBC's Keith Olbermann hosting an unusual morning "Special Comment" show about the decision.
Final vote counts on the measure are still pending.
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Many people have asked, "What can we do? What is the next step? Where do we go from here?"
Just imagine what you, personally, would do if the above article were true.
Then do it. Freedom taken away from one group of people is freedom taken away from us ALL.
Equality denied to one group of people is equality denied to EVERYONE.
Don't wait for "the right moment."
The moment is NOW.
FREEDOM NOW. LIBERTY NOW.
EQUALITY NOW.:dem: