L.A. Jews overwhelmingly opposed Prop. 8, exit poll finds

While many religious organizations supported Proposition 8, there was one major exception in Los Angeles, according to exit polling by the Leavey Center for the Study of Los Angeles at Loyola Marymount University. The center's data found that 78% of Jewish voters in L.A. opposed the ban on gay marriage and just 8% supported Prop. 8. More on the polling and the methodology here. (By the way, Leavey found that "Los Angeles Jewish voters gave Obama 78% to 20% for Republican John McCain. Among all voters in L.A., 72% voted for Obama and 24% for McCain.")

The center also looked at support for Prop. 8 citywide compared with the San Fernando Valley. Turns out the Valley opposed Prop. 8 at a slightly greater level than the city as a whole. Some interesting results here:

                  Cityside  Valley

Yes               30%      27%    

No                57%      62%    

Didn't vote    1%       0%      

No response   11%    10%    

The Jewish Journal looks at local reaction to the Obama victory.

--Shelby Grad

Photo: Christine Cotter / Los Angeles Times

Comments

[Kandice S]

The last time they went after the Gays, 1934 Nazi Germany; wiped them off the streets, ran them out of the country or exterminated those who stayed, it was only a few years later that they eventually did the same thing to Jews.

Gays are like the canary in the coal mine of political/social events. When something happens to them, it foreshadows worse events to come.

[Chiedu Egbuniwe]

To those people crying that gays should simply accept the outcome of Prop 8: should African Americans have accepted segregation because most southerners wanted segregation? Do you really think desegregation would have occurred if put to statewide vote throughout the South? Would Little Rock 9 ever have happened? James Meredith marching into Ole Miss? Does ANYONE know history or how this nation came to be?

I'm African American and I know my history. The Civil Rights Movement would NEVER have succeeded but for the Courts and finally Presidents Eisenhower and Johnson subverting the will of the bigots that ruled the South. The same needs to happen in California. Prop 8 is bigotry and discrimination - and WILL BE OVERTURNED.

Why? Because this is America and there is NOTHING more American than standing up for your rights and fighting tyranny. We will not give up and history is on OUR side.

[Steve Krantz]

I am proud of those Jews who voted against Proposition 8. Two-hundred and fifty eight California rabbis (and more) helped by speaking out and educating their congregations about marriage equality (see http://www.jewsformarriageequality.org/supporting_leaders.html ).

To those fundamentalists, including the Orthodox Jews, who supported Proposition 8, you have imposed your religious views to take away the civil rights of others. As a result you have violated the core moral principle of your religion - to do unto others as you would have done to yourself. Shame.

We will never give up fighting for the equal rights of our families.

Steve Krantz
Founder, Jews for Marriage Equality
Director, Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG), Southern Pacific Region.

[fchl]

there was time when the constitution viewed blacks as 3/5 of a person (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three-fifths_compromise). i guess since it was in the constitution of the united states of america at one point, people shouldn't be bitching about it.

come on people, get real. laws are not static, they change over time. and they need to change. sometimes for the better and sometimes not. the passage of prop 8 did not get rid of gays or lesbians. they will continue to live the lives they want to live in our communities. the only thing that prop 8 did was legalize the discrimination of a certain group of people.

as someone said, i don't want the state constitution to be used to take away rights from people. and i totally agree. back in the early 1900s, laws were passed to discriminate the chinese immigrants living in california. now we think how backwards those policies were.

[Michael]

Candide,

You say, "Judaism is not really a religion; it is an ethnicity." That is outrageous! It sounds as though you have been indoctrinated by the Nazis!

You truly need an education in Judaism. You would never say such remarks if you had any Jewish friends.

Jewish people truly understand what discrimination is. I would guess that you've never been discriminated against.

[Mary]

Bless the Jewish people who recognized bigotry and voted against it.

Too bad African Americans chose to do otherwise One would think given their history they would behave differently but they did just the opposite of what other groups who have fought with them for Civil Rights, including the Gays have done for them. They opted to vote for writing discrimination on the law books.

[irving goldstein]

The Jews know about discrimination? Oh you mean like how all the top executive positions and ownership in the news and entertainment industries are dominated by Jews and have been for decades. You mean like when Ted Turner(goy) bid consideably more for CBS but Paley instead sold it for less to the Tisch brothers(both members of the chosen people). You mean how Hollywood was founded by and 85 years later still controlled by Jews. Marlon Brado's remarks to Larry King still ring true today.

[Stevey]

Wait, isn't this the very same exit poll which shows black support for Prop 8 below 50 percent (47) in Los Angeles? Yet in their blind hatred most of the posters convientienly overlook that little tidbit. Talk about bigotry.