Proposition 8, the ballot initiative to ban same-sex marriage in California, has been a lightning-rod issue at Stanford since the 2008 election. Today in San Francisco, Judge Vaughn Walker J.D. ’70 ruled the ban unconstitutional. Here’s a look back at Stanford and Prop. 8.
Oct. 9, 2008: Students rallied in White Plaza against Prop. 8, coupling it with opposition to Prop. 4, the proposal that would have required parental notification for minors’ abortions. “What brought me out here was reading through the general election packet, and the very first line for (Proposition) Eight says ‘a constitutional amendment to deny the right,’ and I stopped there,” said Yvorn Aswad ‘11. “I couldn’t go any further because how can anyone phrase this in any good light if the first sentence is ‘to deny the right’? That brought me out to come and support.”
Oct. 14, 2008: Citing funding rules, student government turned down the Student Coalition for Marriage Equality’s reimbursement request for ubiquitous purple anti-Prop. 8 t-shirts.
Late October, 2008: Actors from the Stanford Theatre Activist Mobilization Project (STAMP) staged 20 marriage proposals around campus to “evoke the positive emotions that are at the core of marriage equality,” said organizer Amanda Gelender ’10. Gelender, founder of STAMP, would become one of the most outspoken student activists after Prop. 8’s passage.
Oct. 21, 2008: The ASSU Undergraduate Senate passed an anti-Prop. 8 resolution. The Graduate Student Council followed suit the next day.
Oct. 29, 2008: Student government leaders reflected on their role — and whether or not it was appropriate — in opposing Prop. 8. “What we’re going to see is increased Senate activity for things that are Stanford-specific,” said Senator Stuart Baimel ’09.
Oct. 31, 2008: Prop. 8 supporters at Stanford discussed the hostility — real and perceived — they felt from peers ahead of the election. “Accusations fly about being bigoted or hating gay people or being ignorant,” said second-year graduate student Brooke Crosland. “Whether those threats are real or imagined, the effect of perceiving them to be real results in serious hesitation to say that you support Prop. 8,” said first-year chemistry graduate student Bob Rawle.
Early November, 2008: Campaigning grew feverish. “Of the 24 hours in a day, I spend 20 of them thinking about the campaign,” said Prop. 8 opponent Jamie Tam ’10. “Even when I go to sleep, I’m always thinking, ‘Has this been taken care of? Has that been taken care of?’ Sometimes I can’t sleep.” Prop. 8 supporter Randy Stoltenberg, a doctoral student, said the election would be “a major factor in deciding whether to stay in California after I’m done at Stanford. If this loses and we were to stay in California, public schooling will be out of the question.”
Nov. 1, 2008: At the Women’s Community center, 270 students turned out for a phone bank against Prop. 8.
Nov. 3, 2008: At press time before the election, activists said 1,394 Stanford faculty and staff had signed a petition opposing Prop. 8. Outside Old Union on Monday, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom spoke against the proposition to students and to The Daily. Supporters of the ban also turned out to the rally.
Nov. 4, 2008: Prop. 8 passed with 52.3 percent of the statewide vote. At Stanford, students planned to march, while exit polling on campus showed disapproval of the measure.
Nov. 5, 2008: Students protested Prop. 8’s passage at a busy bike intersection, holding signs that read “I am a second-class citizen.” LaDoris Cordell J.D. ‘74, former municipal court judge of Santa Clara County and then-special counsel to University President John Hennessy, spoke to protesters. Protests continued that month in Palo Alto and on campus.
Jan. 27, 2009: Students gathered for a sometimes-tense discussion of African-American voters’ role in Prop. 8, hosted by black and queer groups and the Office of Religious Life.
March 5, 2009: Fifty Stanford students joined a rally in San Francisco as the state Supreme Court heard challenges to Prop. 8. Lawyers “argued that to declare people’s vote invalid would show judicial tyranny,” said Prop. 8 opponent Kenzie Seal ’12. “I feel that this is a pretty reasonable, straight-forward argument, but whether it was wise or tolerant is another issue.”
Summer 2009: “Drained and disheartened” students opposing Prop. 8 emerged to organize the National Marriage Boycott.
Nov. 4, 2009: As Maine voters repealed same-sex marriage rights, student activists “took over” three classrooms on the anniversary of Prop. 8’s passage.
Jan. 20-21, 2009: Political science professor Gary Segura testified in federal court about the political vulnerability of gay Americans. “Gays and lesbians are more likely than any other American to be targeted with rape and murder and hate crimes,” he said, adding: “It’s wrong to view all of these things and conclude that a group is still sufficient to protect their basic rights through the normal political process.”
Aug. 4, 2010: Judge Vaughn Walker J.D. ’70 overturned Prop. 8 in San Francisco, ruling the measure unconstitutional. “An initiative measure adopted by the voters deserves great respect,” Walker wrote. However, he wrote, “moral disapproval alone is an improper basis on which to deny rights to gay men and lesbians.” An immediate appeal is expected and the case is likely to reach the United States Supreme Court.
In tomorrow’s Daily: Stanford reacts to the ruling.
— Elizabeth Titus