Whether it's women, gays, or people of color, propositions that rollback rights for minorities seem to always win at the ballot box. American voters seem to love to destroy progress with a check of the box. Like I said last week, the proposition
Why can't I celebrate today like I had hoped? Instead I'm near tears looking at some of these proposition results. The only narrow victory is over a prop to destroy Affirmative Action in Colorado, which looks to just narrowly avoid passing. Sigh. Here are the numbers via DailyKos
Arizona Proposition 102 defining marriage as between a man and a woman (92%)
For: 1,009,693 - 57%
Against: 777,359 - 43%
Arkansas: Ban Gay Adoption (90%)
For: 549,074 – 57%
Against: 418,648 - 43%
California Proposition 8 to ban gay marriage (84%):
For: 4,605,065 - 51.8%
Against: 4,293,068 - 48.2%
Colorado Proposition 46 to end affirmative action (77%)
For: 886,544 – 49%
Against: 911,218 – 51%
Florida Amendment 2 more strongly banning gay marriage (99%)
For: 4,657,031 – 62%
Against: 2,848,490 - 38%
Nebraska: Ban Affirmative Action (99%)
For: 384,729 – 58%
Against: 283,351 - 42%
As I wrote this morning, the irony is not lost on me that a majority of Americans went into the voting booth and, in a historical move that repudiated the bigotry of the past, pulled a lever for an African-American candidate, while at the same time they pulled another lever to enshrine more bigotry into their state constitutions.
Sad.
Thank you Trevor for acknowledging the conundrum of today. The feelings of gladness for a much needed political shift in our country's leadership....clouded by an immense sadness over the results of the ballot initiatives.
Despondent seems an appropriate word to describe my current mental state.
Yes the irony is great, Alan. It's pretty shocking -- *especially* the loss in California. We need to crunch the numbers, but other commenters on previous entries have noted that it appears that many folks of color (voting in record numbers because of Obama) voted against marriage. Very upsetting news, though, whatever the demographics of anti-gay voters.