With the results of Proposition 8 out, students and staff are split on how to take the constitutional ban on gay marriage. At Moorpark College, the street corners of Collins Drive and Campus Drive have represented the struggle between the supporting and opposing feelings on gay marriage being played out through California’s Proposition 8.
Week after week, proponents on both sides of the issue have demonstrated on the cross streets at Moorpark College, with students honking in support of one or the other, as they drive by. Leah Dewy, 22, an English major at Moorpark College will be voting for Barack Obama and is supportive of Prop. 8.
“Gay people shouldn’t be allowed to get married,” said Dewy. In 2000, the people of California voted on Proposition 22 a ballot initiative to define a marriage as being between a man and a woman. The voters overwhelmingly supported the initiative with 62 percent in favor. On May 15, 2008, the California Supreme Court struck down Prop. 22 stating, “The California Constitution, guarantees same-sex couples the same substantive constitutional rights as opposite-sex couples to marry.”
Responding to the court’s ruling, the organization Protect Marriage funded and sponsored Proposition 8, which would amend California’s State Constitution to reaffirm that a marriage is between opposite sexes. Supporters of Proposition 8 see the initiative as not taking rights away from same-sex couples but rather establishing the definition of marriage as between a man and woman while leaving domestic partner laws intact.
Dan Franks, 18, business major at Moorpark College, is supporting John McCain and supports Proposition 8. “Marriage should be between a man and a woman. Gays won’t lose any rights like they claim they will,” said Franks. Opponents of Proposition 8 see the proposed amendment as not being fair or equal.
They also claim same-sex discrimination in marriage is one of the last civil rights issues that needs to be overcome and brought into modern times. Chris Stein, a 21 year-old biology major, supported the right for one of his best friends to marry his partner. “If he’s denied by Prop 8, it’ll be devastating for him and myself,” said Stein. Psychology major and first time voter Kylie Holland, 19, will be voting for Obama in the 2008 election and is emphatically voting against Proposition 8.
“I’m excited to utilize my right as an American citizen, to have my voice be heard in this Presidential election,” said Holland. Political Science Professor Jack Miller thinks California’s political attitudes have changed drastically. “Regardless of the outcome, people should see how much our political attitudes have changed in the past 8 years.”
