---

By Michael Gardner and Michael Stetz

UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITERS

1:42 a.m. November 5, 2008

SACRAMENTO – A ballot measure to ban same-sex marriage in California appeared on the verge of a narrow victory early Wednesday morning, but opponents of the constitutional amendment remained hopeful of a turnaround once all of the votes were counted.

If the lead stands, Proposition 8 would overturn the landmark state Supreme Court ruling in May legalizing same-sex marriage and also toss into limbo thousands of gay couples who have exchanged vows. The Proposition 8 campaign Tuesday night said it would ask the courts to nullify those marriages.

“I m extremely encouraged. ... I m not sure how the numbers are going to end up, but I m sure we re going to win,” said the Rev. Jim Garlow, pastor of Skyline Church in Rancho San Diego and a leading proponent of the measure.

Supporters of Proposition 8 were exuberant, convinced that the slim margin would hold up even though some major urban centers – where opposition was thought to be strong – had reported only partial tallies.

Opponents were holding out hope for a turnaround as more ballots came in.

“Personally, I d be devastated,” said Robbie Henry, 26, who stood on a chair in the middle of Golden Hall in downtown San Diego, holding a No on 8 sign.

Henry, an El Cajon resident, married his partner June 17, the day same-sex marriage became legal in California. If the ban succeeds, he said, “it doesn t matter. They can t take marriage out of my heart or out of my soul.”

In contrast, Scott Oliver, 30, of Escondido was ecstatic that the measure was holding its lead through the night. Oliver was at Golden Hall wearing a Yes on 8 yard sign as a shirt.

“I don t want my daughter to learn about (gay marriage) in school,” he said. “It s pretty darn important to me.”

Both campaigns were keeping a close eye on where the returns were coming in and where they were lagging.

“It s going to be a long night,” said Dennis Mangers, a volunteer with the No on 8 campaign in Sacramento. “The early returns were from the rural areas. We feel it will turn around in the urban areas.”

Mangers said he hoped supporters of President-elect Barack Obama – particularly young voters and Democrats – would ultimately help defeat Proposition 8.

“We are counting on that demographic,” he said.

From the outset, Proposition 8 was one of the most polarizing and costly social measures to appear on a California ballot. Spending by both sides surpassed $70 million, including millions from religious conservatives.

“It s been the most expensive noneconomic issue in the whole country,” said Bob Stern, president of the Center for Governmental Studies.

Proposition 8 largely overshadowed simultaneous campaigns in Arizona and Florida to strengthen existing bans on same-sex marriage by placing the prohibition in their state constitutions. Both were heading toward victory late Tuesday night.

But it was the California campaign that drew the most attention because of its potential national influence.

To the gay community, California – not Massachusetts – will push the national agenda for same-sex marriage, said Kerry Eleveld, political editor of The Advocate, a gay-oriented national publication. It was California, she noted, that struck down a ban on interracial marriage 60 years ago, paving the way for the U.S. Supreme Court to agree two decades later.

“There is this incredible sense of history,” Eleveld said.

Massachusetts was the first state to legalize same-sex marriage, following a ruling by its high court four years ago. Elsewhere, the Connecticut Supreme Court in early October also ruled that prohibiting same-sex marriage amounted to unconstitutional discrimination, opening the door for gay couples to exchange vows starting next Wednesday.

But same-sex marriage has never been approved at the polls anywhere.

Eight years ago, Californians voted to prohibit same-sex marriage by approving Proposition 22, which passed with 61 percent of the vote. The Supreme Court struck down that statute initiative as unconstitutional in a 4-3 ruling. Proposition 8 was drawn as a constitutional amendment to nullify the high court ruling.

From the outset, Proposition 8 supporters avoided direct attacks on gay couples. Instead, they focused on the fact that four justices overruled the will of a majority of voters.

“The most effective part of the campaign for 8 was the effort to reframe the discussion toward coercion – the notion that the California Supreme Court was coercing Californians to accept something they didn t necessarily want,” said Jack Pitney, a political science professor at Claremont McKenna College.

The Proposition 8 campaign strategy also concentrated on disputed claims that schools would be compelled to fold same-sex marriage into lesson plans. That caused some voters to rethink their “it s none of my business” position and question whether it might affect children, Pitney said.

Opponents sought to paint the issue as one of civil rights and discrimination, arguing that it is not fair to strip someone of their rights, regardless of one s personal view toward same-sex marriage.

“What was effective was the idea of simple fairness and civil rights,” Pitney said. “They cast it not as an issue of sexuality, but of equal treatment.”

Source : http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/politics/20081105-0142-bn05marriage.html

Photo  : http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2008/11/01/us/politics/01marriage_span.jpg

---