Prop 8 And the Status Quo

Opposition to the California Proposition seeking to eliminate the right of same-sex couples to marry and restore them to second-class citizenship continues to grow, with 55% planning to vote no and just 38% support (a very bad position for an initiative.) [HT: Roger Ailes.] Why, I'm beginning to wonder if predictions that the California courts will hand the state to McCain may not pan out!

I've long wonder how opponents of same-sex marriage will manage to portray a grant of rights favored by California's elected legislature, its elected governor, and its tyrants in black robes elected courts, and the public in a referendum will be portrayed as "undemocratic." The answer, based on the article, seems to be that it will entail whining about the description of the initiative's purpose in the summary language: Brown wanted an accurate description, while supporters wanted a vague one. It is true, of course, that the wording of initiatives and their summaries can affect vote totals. But, of course, this is true of any initiative; and precisely for this reason an initiative isn't some completely accurate measure of a transcendent Popular Will. And this includes the initiative that created the unconstitutional same-sex marriage ban in the first place. The current status quo and the wording of an initiative matter; it's just these background factors are considered natural when they support traditional exclusionary policies.

The almost certain failure of Prop 8 further suggests that claims that the California courts will instigate a backlash because they overturned the "popular will" remain highly questionable. The "popular will" isn't static and there's no entirely reliable way of measuring it, but if Prop 8 supporters want to complain about that remember that it's equally applicable of initiatives they previously supported too.

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