Election Is Critical, but Try Telling That to Gay Voters

By SCOTT JAMES -

Proposition 8, the referendum that ended same-sex marriage in California in 2008, is not officially on the ballot again this Election Day. Gay rights advocates say it might as well be.

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The results of two statewide races on Tuesday — governor and attorney general — could affect the pending court appeal over the constitutionality of the referendum. But there appears to be little passion exhibited by either side on the issue.
In the gay and lesbian community, which arguably has the most at stake, “there’s no doubt there’s less enthusiasm,” said Geoff Kors, executive director of Equality California, the organization that campaigned against Proposition 8.
Meg Whitman and Steve Cooley, Republican candidates for governor and attorney general, respectively, have pledged that if elected they will defend Proposition 8 in the current case before the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. The state currently does not defend the measure, a silence that many perceive as an endorsement of same-sex marriage.
Intervention would be an “unprecedented situation,” said Erwin Chemerinsky, dean of the law school at the University of California, Irvine. “We don’t know what would happen if a new governor or attorney general tried to intervene,” he said.
The December appeals hearing could face a lengthy delay, or an argument could be made for a new trial, with the state reversing its stance and supporting the marriage ban.
Rory Little, professor of law at the University of California Hastings College of the Law, said that a new trial would be unlikely, but that the judges would carefully consider the motion. “The court will take this very seriously,” Mr. Little said.
With the election possibly affecting such a hard-fought legal victory, gay men and lesbians should be motivated to vote, but they might not be aware of the stakes, according to political analysts. The apathy could also be due to the traditional drop in political fervor during nonpresidential election years, although another feeling is also fueling the ambivalence: betrayal.
“People are justifiably frustrated and angry about the lack of progress on key equality issues in the past two years in Washington,” Mr. Kors said.
It is a case of been there, done that, but never got the promised T-shirt.
There has been disappointment with President Obama and the Democratic-controlled Congress — which received widespread support from gay and lesbian voters — over matters like a bill to prevent employment discrimination based on sexual orientation and elimination of the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy. Both issues have failed to win approval in Washington, and this month the Obama Justice Department instead decided to fight a judge’s ruling that would have overturned the military policy.
Rebecca Prozan, a candidate for District 8 supervisor in San Francisco and an organizer for Mr. Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign, has heard gay voters’ complaints that the president has failed to keep his promises. “I take a lot of heat for that,” Ms. Prozan said. “The level of expectation was so high.”
She said that although change had been slow on some issues, gay men and lesbians had made progress during the Obama administration, with expanded federal benefits for same-sex couples and the lifting of the bar to H.I.V.-positive foreign visitors.
Indeed, Ms. Prozan’s own race is indicative of evolving gay politics: all four candidates on the ballot are openly gay (the others are Bill Hemenger, Rafael Mandelman and Scott Wiener).
On Tuesday night, volunteers manned the phones at Equality California’s offices in an effort to get out the vote next week. Darius Kemp, the phone bank organizer, said he had to remind voters that “change doesn’t happen overnight.”
Exit polling has shown that 5 percent of California voters identify themselves as gay, according to Eric Jaye, founder of Storefront Political Media, a consulting firm. “These are very close races,” Mr. Jaye said, “and 5 percent certainly could make a difference.”
Mr. Kors said gay and lesbian voters needed to look beyond disillusionment with Washington and understand that this election is about local politics. He said the next governor would have a strong voice if same-sex marriage was put up for a vote again in 2012, and he said that measures recently passed in Sacramento — including a holiday in honor of Harvey Milk, the slain gay rights leader, and a bill to help prevent gay teen suicides — could not have overcome a governor’s veto.
“There’s so much at stake right here in California,” Mr. Kors said.

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