Gay Marriage Defeat

Calif. Gay-Marriage Defeat Jars Activists, Cheers Foes

Prop. 8 passed in CA with 52% of the vote, and millions of dollars in funding from Catholics, the Mormon Church and other anti-gay religious fundamentalist groups.

Exit polls revealed dramatic demographic gaps in the gay-marriage vote. While about six in 10 voters under 30 opposed the ban, about the same proportion of those 65 and older supported it.

There were sharp racial discrepancies as well. Even as black voters overwhelmingly backed Barack Obama -- a gay-rights supporter -- for president, about seven in 10 of them voted against gay marriage, compared with about half of white voters.

Jim Maynard, Memphis gay activist: "I'm very saddened, and angry, by the passage of Proposition 8 in California. The voters in California sided with anti-gay religious groups to rescind the marriages of thousands of gay and lesbian couples. Unfortunately, the fight for marriage equality is going to be an uphill battle. Civil rights should never be determined by the votes of a majority of people in a state."

Freedom to Marry.org

UPDATE: Prop. 8 Foes Refuse to Concede

UPDATE: Lawsuit Filed to Stop Prop. 8