I am happy for small favors! (news link attached-caution, political)

I don't know. I am a Californian and I proudly voted in favor of equality. California is hardly the 'bible belt', I don't understand it myself. I do know that of course Obama got our 55 electoral votes, and 92% of the black vote went to Obama (I got that off a news show it is not my opinion!) and I hear that the majority of the black vote also went to yes on prop 8, therefore all I can figure is that blacks in California voted in favor of prop 8 instead of in favor of equality. Go figure, maybe among blacks there are fewer gays and lesbians who wished to get married? I don't know. Am I surprised by this? Yes I am.

I'm surprised that the majority of blacks would vote against equality as well. Maybe they were just confused. Hard to tell sometimes with Props. Too many times a yes vote means no and vice-versa Now, I guess the Prop 8 people will just have to take it through the courts and see if they can get things set right again

I guess I would be naive to say that lying and threats should be rejected from platforms and propositions - but people cannot make an informed decision for or against something based on a lie or a threat. This should have been put on the table by saying 'do you believe everybody is equal and therefore deserving of equal rights' not 'should we eliminate gay marriage'. THEN I think we should all have been made aware of who belonged to the group that thinks people are not all equal and deserving of equal rights. As far as informed decisions - doctors are required to inform you of risks and benefits before they do any procedures or withhold treatment. It's your choice after you have the information. If they don't give you all the information, you could file a suit against them. This situation is similar except that the YES and NO camps to a degree lied to everybody I think. Even though I am on the NO side, I don't condone all the smearing and nasty things both groups did.

Thank you. I do believe that the more happy people there are in the world, the less stress and anger and arguments and wars. People who are happy rarely try to make things miserable for anybody, so it makes sense to try and promote happiness as a solution to problems.

I think that eventually just like the eventual disappearance of segregation, someday all states will have a law that says 'a person can marry any other person and it will be recognized'. I am not sure what people who are against it are afraid of. None of their arguments hold water because of what you said and what I believe - that any relationship, marriage or otherwise, is only between the two people involved and not involving anybody else, moreover nobody else's opinions, convictions, beliefs, or feelings have anything to do with that couple or their personal relationship. It is never anybody else's business and I will keep fighting to help ensure we get to that point.