I personally appreciate the stand that six members of the City Council took today against Prop. 8, the initiative that seeks to amend the state constitution to eliminate the right of same-sex couples to get married. You might say it was a no-brainer for Toni Atkins, who is gay, and Donna Frye, a social liberal, to vote against Prop. 8. It was also not surprising to see Scott Peters and Ben Hueso, both Democrats, cast votes against it.
It’s more difficult for Republicans to vote against the base of their party, and Atkins, Frye, Peters and Hueso could not have added the San Diego City Council to the No on 8 endorsement list without one of either Kevin Faulconer or Jim Madaffer, both Republicans, climbing aboard. Madaffer had previously shown that he understands that Prop. 8 is a monumental civil rights issue; as such, Faulconer could have voted against the majority and pleased the conservative wing of his party, but he didn’t, and I appreciate that.
Conservative Republican Brian Maienschein voted against the majority, which wasn’t surprising. Nor was Democrat Tony Young’s vote against opposing Prop. 8—he had already been on record as being opposed to gay marriage. But that doesn’t mean it isn’t disappointing. I suppose I should admire his bucking of what might be considered Democratic orthodoxy, but I really can’t. I haven’t spoken to Young about his opposition to gay marriage, but he is a religious man, and I assume his faith is at the heart of it. Young is black. That he and many other devout black people fail to empathize with their gay neighbors at this critical time for the gay community, considering the shared experience of discrimination in both the black and gay communities, is particularly troubling to me. I just don’t understand it.
As for Prop. 11, which would remove the ability of state legislators to choose their own voters and hand the redistricting process over to a—hopefully—independent commission, it’s the Democrats on the council who I applaud. Theoretically, Democrats have the most to lose with the passage of Prop. 11. They control Sacramento, so if redistricting causes any seats to move from one party to the other, it’s more likely the Dems who’ll lose. But the way districts are currently drawn is wholly undemocratic, so if the Dems lose because of it, so be it.
So, I especially appreciate the votes in favor of Prop. 11 by Democrats Frye, Atkins and Peters, who were joined by Republicans Faulconer, Madaffer and Maienschein. Hueso was absent, but I believe (although I’m not 100 percent on this) that he voted against supporting Prop. 11 when it came before the council’s Rules Committee. That would make sense if he did; he’s very closely aligned with labor, and labor has a lot to lose if Democrats lose ground to Republicans. Young voted against supporting Prop. 11, so in my mind, he was 0 for 2 today.
