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L.A. stops gay marriages – protests on the streets
The Los Angeles County Registrar's Office stopped issuing same-sex marriage licenses after the passage of a ballot measure to eliminate the right of gay couples to marry, the agency said Wednesday. Three groups have petitioned the California Supreme Court challenging the passage, and thousands of protesters took to the streets of West Hollywood Wednesday to vent their disappointment. Hundreds of protesters staged a half-hour sit-in outside CNN's Los Angeles bureau on Sunset Boulevard. The demonstrators chanted slogans and banged on the building's glass doors but then dispersed without incident.
Proposition 8 was an amendment to the California Constitution that eliminated the newly-declared right of same-sex couples to marry. On the day after the election, the results remain uncertified, and with 100% of precincts reporting, the vote was 52.5% in favor of Proposition 8 and 47.5% against, with a difference of about 504,000 votes; as many as 3 million absentee and provisional ballots remain to be counted. The organizers of the "No on Prop 8" issued an e-mail about 20 hours after the polls closed which stated, "we will not issue the ultimate call on this election until we have more information.
The campaigns for and against Proposition 8 raised $35.8 million and $37.6 million, respectively, becoming the highest-funded campaign on any state ballot that day and surpassing every campaign in the country in spending except the presidential contest. The ProtectMarriage.com organization sponsored the initiative that placed Proposition 8 on the ballot and arguing for traditional marriage as well as the protection of education and church tax benefits. Equality for All was the lead organization opposed to Proposition 8; under the basis that it is a civil rights issue and violates the Equal Protection Clause. |
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