What is Proposition 8

Proposition 8 is "The California Marriage Protection Amendment" being voted on November 4th in California. On Wednesday Oct. 8th Elder Ballard and other General Authorities of the LDS Church aired a broadcast to LDS members in California urging them to support and vote for Proposition 8. The First Presidency of the LDS Church also sent a letter to members in California asking them to do all that they can to support this proposed amendment <http://newsroom.lds.org/ldsnewsroom/eng/commentary/california-and-same-sex-marriage>

I rarely get too excited about politics but feel a moral obligation to support this proposition and want to tell everyone why I feel this way. I am somewhat apprehensive to promote this publicly as the last thing I want to do is offend anybody. However, I feel I can be tolerant without condoning gay marriage, and should be able to maintain my standards and beliefs while still loving individuals who are gay. If gay marriage remains legal TEACHERS COULD BE REQUIRED to teach young children there is no difference between gay marriage and traditional marriage. There is a very real chance of this happening as it has already happened in Massachusetts.

My desire to pass proposition 8 has nothing to do with judging, hating , or trying to take rights away. In fact, the law in California already provides marriage-related benefits to be given to civil unions and domestic partnerships. So why is there a need to force everyone to except this lifestyle? There is also a real threat of religious liberties being taken away as was the case in Massachusetts when a Catholic adoption agency was forced to shut down because they would not allow same-sex couples to adopt children from their agency <http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1141/is_/ai_n16119113>

California voters passed Proposition 22 in 2000 by more than 61%, saying that a marriage in California is between a man and a woman. Earlier this year, four activist judges based in San Francisco wrongly overturned the people's vote, legalizing same-sex marriage. This is the same proposed amendment but this time it will be written in the CalIfornia Constitution. Please help us pass proposition 8 to protect the sanctity of marriage as well as the rights of our children.