Source: Monterey Herald, Salinas Californian, San Jose Mercury News
Supporters and opponents of Proposition 8 squared off Sunday along Main Street in Salinas, California for a raucus battle of signs and chants, indicating radically different views of what the state constitution is all about.
The encounters were echoed elsewhere in California as supporters of the anti-gay marriage measure rallied church members to campaign for the ballot measure.
If approved, Proposition 8 would rewrite the California Constitution to state that marriage is legal only if it is between a man and a woman, reversing a California Supreme Court ruling in May that legalized same-sex marriage.
Salinas "Yes on 8" parade met by "No on 8" protest
photo: Scott MacDonald /Salinas CalifornianA Salinas preacher and about 20 churches from the area had organized a parade to support what they call "traditional family values".
Salinas police estimated 700 to 800 people walked in the parade, most of them continually chanting "Yes on 8" and many waving yellow signs saying, "Yes on 8 -- Protect Marriage", Monterey Herald reports. The parade included Harley-Davidson motorcycles, hot rods, and a rock band playing on a flatbed truck.
The parade was met by a protest rally of more than 200 people who oppose Prop. 8, Salinas Californian reports. They held signs aloft saying, "Can I vote on your marriage?" along with dozens of blue "Vote No On Prop 8" campaign signs. Other signs in Spanish said, "Viva la Diversidad!" (Long live diversity.) Their counter-event was called the "No on 8 Visibility Action & Silent Witness."
Billboard, television and radio ads on both sides have bombarded voters in recent days. Several weeks ago, Proposition 8 trailed far behind in the polls, but the recent media push by the measure's supporters has tightened up the race, making the next two weeks crucial for both sides.
An hour north and a cultural shift away in Cupertino, nearly a thousand people gathered on a muddy field to say that marriages between lesbian and gay couples are wrong and should be nullified.
Singing Christian worship songs, many in the largely Asian crowd said that a marriage between a man and a woman is the foundation of traditional Asian societies. Others recited Bible verses and said religion was the driver of their views, San Jose Mercury News reports.
Underneath a banner that said "Bay Area Christians for Traditional Marriage," and five American flags, a female speaker shouted out: "God created marriage! One man, one woman!"
Members of several dozen churches from throughout the Bay Area attended that rally, San Jose Mercury News reports.
A poll released last week found that 57 percent of Asian-Americans likely to vote in the Nov. 4 election oppose Proposition 8, but many at Sunday's rally refuted that claim. Chip White, a spokesman for Yes on 8, said that the findings were based on old data and that views have changed since an intense advertising campaign began in late September.
"God created marriage, and we're his creations," said Yuki Ku, a church member who attended Sunday's rally.
"We don't have the privilege or right to say anything," she said. "He's the author of the universe."
A few miles away Michael Giluso stood with about 15 friends on a busy corner in Campbell waving a sign high in the air for everybody to see.
"Please save our marriage: Vote No on Prop. 8," the sign said.
"This is a civil rights issue," Giluso, a Gilroy resident who married his husband in June.
Down highway 101 in Salinas, there were a few verbal exchanges between the groups according to the Monterey Herald. The "no" supporters were counseled not to engage the "yes" supporters.
"If there is going to be misbehavior, let it be the other side," Cathy Andrews, Santa Cruz coordinator for the organization Pride, told several hundred people inside the Cherry Bean Coffee House before the parade started.
But at least a few of the participants did shout to each other.
"You are trying to take away my dream if I want to marry a man," a young man dressed in black yelled at a man carrying a Yes on 8 sign before the parade started.
The "Yes" side insisted that the state constitution should be changed to reflect their religious beliefs.
"For traditional family values, if you look at the Bible, family is defined as a relationship between man, woman and God," said parade grand marshal Jeff Taylor, reports Salinas Californian. Taylor is an independent candidate for the 17th Congressional District who has shifted his campaign focus to support of Prop. 8.
"I believe that everyone who is out here today believes in the biblical reference and that the Bible is the law of the land. To the greatest extent we need to do what we can to uphold that," he said.
Parade organizer Pastor Jack Alisea of the Church of the Rock in Salinas refused to characterize the parade as a "Yes on 8" event, saying his group did not have signs supporting the proposition. What the other 20-odd church groups did was up to them, he said.
Alisea said he staged the parade "so people can celebrate traditional family values," adding "we are not against anybody." He cast the parade as having a broader agenda.
"We just got to stop violence in our city, stop the gang violence," he said.
But Lisa Cisneros, a volunteer with the Monterey County No on 8 Committee, said the parade organizers had defined "family" too narrowly.
"We are part of family values, too," Cisneros said, "so we feel we should be included as part of family values because we have strong families and we're also taking a stand against Proposition 8."
Her group supports a "no" vote "because Proposition 8 will eliminate rights, and it's wrong to eliminate rights from any group of people."
She cited as a practical example that if her same-sex marriage were instead a domestic partnership, this could be misunderstood in the case of one partner's medical emergency.
She added, "The best way to protect families is to make sure that all families are treated equally."
Friends, families, and allies of same-sex couples who rallied against the proposition argued that families values includes the full recognition of all families and that religious values should not influence the law, said Becky Hetter of Seaside, whose daughter was recently married in San Francisco.
"Marriage is a political issue, not a religious one," Hetter said.
"I would be disheartened and would be very frightened with what's going on in this country if the right for marriage is overturned."
Jeff Kohn, rector of St. James Episcopal Church in Monterey, said he was speaking for himself, but the Episcopal bishops in California have issued a letter supporting a "no" vote on Proposition 8. Kohn said he sees marriage as a spiritual relationship and he was uncomfortable with government defining it, Monterey Herald reports.
"The institution of marriage is a way to structure relationships that are more committed, more moral, more long-lasting," said Kohn. Refusing to participate in same-sex marriages meant there were no opportunities "to communicate values for that relationship," he said.
Source: Proposition 8 square-off | Monterey Herald
Traditional family values championed by marchers | Californian
Same-sex marriage debate flares up in Silicon Valley | San Jose Mercury News