I usually skip over 'gay' news and leave it to the bigwigs like Gay.com and PlanetOut, however the recent news about Prop 8 in California has caught my attention. I first sent out a RIM to my buddy list about it, asking if people knew about it. I got a few people saying they either don't follow gay news either or they don't live in the States. I myself live in Canada and same-sex marriage is legally binding from coast to coast (thanks CBELA).

About this Prop 8... in California, back in May '08, they became the 2nd state to recognize same-sex marriages. I remember the hoopla it caused and saw the stream of photos that poured thru as gays and lesbians took pics of their newly bound matrimony. Well just very recently, Proposition 8 surfaced... it's a ballot and the title of this ballot wants to 'Eliminate (the) Right of Same-Sex Couples to Marry'. From Wiki (article): "Proposition 8 is a California State ballot proposition that would amend the state Constitution, to limit marriage to unions between a man and a woman".

From what I understand, not all the ballots have been counted for yet, however if it's reversed - meaning if it goes thru and same-sex marriages are no permitted in California... what happens to all those who did get marry? There's lawsuits right now involving those who did get married and those who planned on getting married.

2ndly - what interested me about this case - is that the church has gotten involved. 8 such religious groups have supported this ballot (the Mormons being the best known) and have poured a ton of money into it.

So... from what I understand... it's still up in the air. Here's a few videos I found in relation to this. This one a little cartoon which explains this Prop 8 (it's more for Prop 8 than against)... and here's one showing people protesting (chanting 'separate church and state' and 'shame on you').

Anyhow, as I mentioned, I sent out a RIM (Recorded Instant Message) to my buddies on TubeBear and I got quite a few responses back. Here's a fine response from DJ Reed (profile - what a fantastic beard he's got going there). DJ is one of the coordinators for Maximus - a group that organizes quarterly socials for butchy men who enjoy a good smoke: