I am writing today to announce the closure of the New Mexico Independent. After three and a half years of operation in New Mexico, the board of the American Independent News Network, has decided to shift publication of its news…
While environmental activists played their part yesterday during demonstrations at the capitol building, going so far as to dress up as solar panels and to sing the tune of “You Are My Sunshine,” their counterparts, the anti-cap-and-trade contingency who has…
Roughly one quarter of University of New Mexico students are unimpressed with the state’s flagship public school, according to a survey that questioned college students about their higher education experiences.
It’s back to the drawing board in California over the rights of gay couples. The citizens of that state continue their fight over gay marriage, passing an amendment to the state constitution yesterday that defines marriage as an institution solely between a man and a woman.
After the state’s Supreme Court ruled almost five months ago that a state law banning gay marriage violated the state’s constitution, around 18,000 same-sex couples married legally in California. At the same time, a massive campaign was formed to pass Proposition 8, which would amend the state constitution to stop the marriages. It passed with 52 percent of the vote.
The Proposition 8 campaign was the most expensive proposition on any ballot in the nation, according to the Los Angeles Times, with almost $74 million spent altogether. It was also in many respects a national campaign, as California is widely considered a cultural battleground. “As goes California, so goes the nation,” the saying goes.
Accordingly, enormous sums of money poured in from other states, including New Mexico, both for and against the ban.
In addition to money supporting the ban, organized constituencies from outside the state volunteered their time making phone calls urging passage of the bill, especially from the Mormon and Catholic churches. Many of these volunteers see the fight over gay marriage as a moral battle, summed up by Ellen Smedley who was quoted in the Los Angeles Times:
“This has been a moral battle,” said Ellen Smedley, 34, a member of the Mormon Church and a mother of five who worked on the campaign. “We aren’t trying to change anything that homosexual couples believe or want — it doesn’t change anything that they’re allowed to do already. It’s defining marriage. . . . Marriage is a man and a woman establishing a family unit.”
Opposition to the ban was also strong across the nation, with many people seeing gay marriage as a civil rights issue. This sentiment was summed up by Joe Solomonese, quoted in the LA Times:
“This is the biggest civil rights struggle for our movement in decades. . . .” said Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solomonese, speaking from a Proposition 8 gathering at a brewery in the nation’s capital. “The outcome weighs incredibly heavily on the minds of every single person in the room.”
