I have been noticing more on more (on blog's, etc) that people keep
saying that the result of prop 8 is because of hate. There's a lot of
"Do you love or hate?" propoganda, and a lot of "I am hated" from the
gay community, etc.



I just disagree. While I will acknowledge that there are those who hate
gays and lesbians and chose to vote for prop 8 as a result of their
hatred, I would argue that the majority did not (base their decision on
hatred). Feeling that marriage should be between a man and a woman is
an opinion of some people. It does not mean they are against gay and
lesbian relationships, they just have a different definition of what
marriage means. This could be because of the "do you want your children
to learn about gay marriage in schools" advertisements or it could be
for religious reasons, or maybe even because of procreation, who knows.
My point is that people are entitled to their thoughts and opinions on
the subject and voted based on that, not hatred. I actually know many
people who voted for prop 8 that live in SF, have gay friends, etc but
for whatever reasons strongly believed marriage should be between man
and wife only.



The bigger question of course then is civil rights. In the deep south
the majority of people once believed in the KKK but that did not mean
they were right, and their beliefs were founded from hate. Their
actions were a violation of civil and human rights against african
americans. In this situation, no amount of public vote should determine
what is law.



So, is the same thing happening here with Prop 8? No, not on the human
rights level. I do not feel that gay people fear for their lives, or
are denied drinking water, etc. On the civil rights level, possibly but
it is difficult to take as seriously as other civil rights violations
in history like certain groups not being permitted to vote,
segregation, etc, and thank goodness we are now in a time where gay
couples can be together, live together, etc without that act being
illegal.



What's my point? That it is damaging to the credibility of the gay
marriage movement for them to keep claiming that a) they are hated, and
b) that when someone makes a decision regarding gay marriage, if they
vote against it they are choosing hate. It just sounds too much like
George Bush saying if other countries are not with us they are our
enemy, etc. Life is not so black and white, and using tactics like that
do nothing but enflame.



Nancy Pelosi said it best in her commercial in regards to prop 8. She
said, (paraphrased) "You may believe marriage should be between a man
and a woman, but this issue is not about that, it is about civil
rights, and whether you should be able to tell someone what they can
and cannot do". This is way to go about change. Achknowledge people's
uncertainties and fears and then talk about the bigger issue of rights,
which should be the same for all.