California referendum bans gay marriage

Around a dozen countries, including America’s neighbor to the north, have extended to gay marriages the same legal rights enjoyed by traditional married couples. A handful more have placed same-sex couples in civil unions, with the same privileges as hetero couples but without the title of “marriage.” In the United States there remains a lot of resistance against both, as made evident when California, widely considered to be the most liberal state in the union — the “Left Coast,” as it is sometimes derisively called — voted against recognizing same-sex marriages.

On this day, November 4, 2008, California’s Proposition 8, which sought to overturn the official status of same-sex marriages performed in California, passed by a direct referendum by the people. The margin was 52% to 47%.

The pattern of voting showed the usual political divisions of the state. Many of the coastal voting districts were in support of same-sex marriage and voted against the bill, while almost all the inland California communities voted in favor. About five years after Proposition 8 was passed, in June 2013, same-sex marriages became legal again.