Prop. 8: Backers on Southside and Eastside overcame foes on Westside

The battle over Proposition 8 in some ways came down to a battle between west and north versus south and east.

A Times database analysis of Proposition 8 voting in Los Angeles County shows some clear geographic divides over the issue of banning gay marriage. The database team produced a variety of interactive maps designed to help understand Proposition 8 balloting in L.A. and across California.

Here are some highlights:

WESTSIDE: Voters rejected Proposition 8 on the Westside by a large margin. About 66% of voters in Beverly Hills voted "no," as did 78% of Santa Monica voters. In Malibu, 69% voted no. Opposition was also heavy in the hillside corridor west of downtown from Echo Park and Silver Lake to Hollywood and West Hollywood, and also in the Mid-Wilshire, Fairfax and Beverly Center areas. That strong opposition to the measure jumped over the Hollywood Hills to the affluent "south of Ventura Boulevard" crowd and even farther north.

SOLID SOUTH and EAST: Some of the strongest support for Proposition 8 was south of downtown L.A., among black and Latino voters. In Compton, 65% of voters said "yes," as did 60% in Huntington Park, 61% in Inglewood and 63% in Lynwood. Similar levels of support were evident in predominantly Latino cities to the east, including Whittier, El Monte, Baldwin Park and Pomona.

ASIAN VOTE: Several cities with large Asian American populations -- Monterey Park, Alhambra, Temple City, San Gabriel, San Marino and Cerritos -- backed the measure. (Some of these cities also have sizable Latino populations.)

ALONG THE COAST: In the South Bay, the biggest opposition was along the coast. The beach cities -- Redondo, Manhattan and Hermosa -- all voted "no" by healthy margins. But on the Palos Verdes Peninsula, all four communities approved Proposition 8 (Palos Verdes Estates, however, did so by a thin margin).

FAR WEST VALLEY: The 101 Freeway corridor generally voted no: Agoura Hills, Calabasas, Hidden Hills and Westlake Village.

City with the largest "yes" percentage: INDUSTRY, 82% (but only 18 voters)

City with the largest "no" percentage: WEST HOLLYWOOD, 86%

Full analysis of L.A. County Prop 8 votes by city is available here.

-- Shelby Grad

Comments

[Joseph]

USA Today published an article recently in which Sir Elton John spoke about his position on Proposition 8. John clarified his position on Prop 8 while attending the annual benefit for the Elton John AIDS Foundation. He was accompanied by his longtime partner David Furnish, whom he joined in a civil union in 2005. John was quoted as saying, "We're not married. Let's get that right. We have a civil partnership. What is wrong with Proposition 8 is that they went for marriage. Marriage is going to put a lot of people off, the word marriage."

John went on to emphasize that civil unions grant same-sex couples the same rights afforded to married heterosexual couples. He stated, "I don't want to be married. I'm very happy with a civil partnership. If gay people want to get married, or get together, they should have a civil partnership . . . the word marriage, I think, puts a lot of people off. You get the same equal rights that we do when we have a civil partnership. Heterosexual people get married. We can have civil partnerships."

Now, that’s what you call “pride”.

[Bernard]

It has been so interesting to see the open arrogance of some white gay folks condemning and singling out the black community in this debate. Their "you went through it too, now support my civil rights.." is beyond arrogance. Especially when they hop in their mercedes and auto lock the doors after... for some white gays; it is imperative you become accountable for your racism. In fact, if you had been more accountable for your racism before the election, and spent time reaching out to the black community in neighborhoods other than silverlake and laguna beach, you might've had more support. Again, auto locks...
Oh, and how about that Michigan Womyn's Music Festival? Another shining example of civil rights? Not if you are the letter T in the acronym. Puhleeeze....
I only wish that the conformity worshiping marriage activists within the gay community would spend as much energy, time, and effort lending a helping hand to the thousands of young gay youth who are homeless runaways, the trans people murdered, the black lesbians discriminated against in the workplace, as they spend on trying to conform to the flawed institution of marriage, and getting even more priveledge in the straight world in the form of tax breaks, ect...
So, in closing... If you are white, drive a benz, live in WEHO or the Castro district, ect... please be very careful when you relate your struggle to the Black Civil Rights Movement. Please take a moment to examine the differences between your struggle and the Black Civil Rights Movement next time you auto lock your doors in South LA.

[Clemmiez]

There are MANY churches of various denominations and many Jewish congregations who fully support the right of same sex-couples to marry. And many who don't. However, the last time I checked, while granting freedom of religion to the people, our country governed under secular law. Your God is not better than my God. Your beliefs are not more moral or better than mine. To each his own to practice their own way, but not to shove it down the throats - or voting ballots - of others. Prior to November 4, churches in California had the right to not perform same sex marriages. No church would have been forced to do so as the scare tactic ads suggested! What gay or lesbian couple would want to get married where they weren't wanted anyway? Also, in most European countries, straight couples are required to have a signing of marriage papers and civil ceremony at the local town hall prior to a religious wedding. The clergy does not have legal power to marry people. Church/temple weddings are purely ceremonial. It is only in the United States that ministers, rabbis, priests, etc. have the power "invested by the state" to legally marry people. Though we too, have can have civil weddings (by choice) at city hall. Or if you feel especially entitled by the "sanctimony of marriage" you can get married by Elvis in Las Vegas.
Prop 8 is indeed a civil issue. Domestic partnerships in the United States (contrary to those in Europe) do not cover many of the rights that marriage does. Rights of inheritance, life/death hospital decisions, adoption, tax status, pension, property rights, and health and auto insurance plans are automatic legal benefits of the word "marriage". Therefore, gay & lesbian couples and their families are second class to those who are married. (Heterosexual couples who choose –ooh, there’s that word again - not to marry are in the same boat by the way.)
My mother and grandparents went through the Nuremberg Laws in Nazi Germany. Go look it up. Basic rights they and their forbearers had for a hundred years were wiped out. My 8 year old blonde, blue-eyed mother was physically removed and forbidden to swim in the town swimming pool where she had been playing with her friends. She was -one day to the next - no longer allowed to go to the public school she'd been attending; my grandparents had to let go of all female employees under the age of 35 who worked for them. They were no longer permitted to marry anyone who didn't have "Jewish blood". And that was just the beginning. Here in the United States, Brown vs. the Board of Education was a ruling set forth by the Supreme Court. If it had been a majority vote, those southern states would probably still have separate black and white schools, housing, restaurants, etc. And this was here, in AMERICA in our lifetime. As one poster said, "It truly is amazing the damage that old-world homophobia, educational and social ignorance, and religious dogma can do when joined together". And, like womens right to vote, desegregation, and apartheid, it will take more time, but it will change.... This inane proposition that never legally should have been put on the ballot will be overturned.

Full marriage recognized: Spain, Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, and US States: Connecticut, Massachusetts, and California (on hold for the time being).
Legal partnerships similar to marriage (with identical rights)Sweden, Denmark, UK, Czech Republic, Slovenia, Hungary, Finland, Portugal

[Richard]

I am a straight, married man who voted NO on Proposition 8. I am sick of so-called religious people telling me what constitutes "traditional marriage" and that somehow by respecting others with the same rights and responsibilities under the law that my heterosexual marriage is somehow threatened! That is utter nonsense, creating some false "personhood" for the "institution" of marriage. Marriage is a legal contract between two individuals who want to recognize their relationship under the law with the legal rights that come with it, nothing more or less.

If you want a religious ceremony, go for it. The court's decision did absolutely nothing to force gay marriage into churches. I am sick of people using their bogus religious beliefs to push bigotry on others. The next thing you know, these people will be pushing to discriminate against the LGBT for housing, then employment, schools, medical attention....after all, it seems all you need to AMEND the CONSTITUTION of California is a vote of 50.1% of the people who show up on election day.

It's a shame the constitution can be amended by a sham of an initiative process and such a narrow vote by such narrow-minded people. Constitutions are supposed to protect minorities from the tyranny of the majority. Ballot initiatives are now being misused for all kinds of nefarious purposes. If we allow this to continue it's only a matter of time before everyone finds themselves in some category of minority being pushed around.

[Ken Thompson]

I'm tired of the gay community attemping to tie the issue of gay marriage or so called "civil rights" to blacks civil rights fought for in the 60's. It offensive to me and other black people when gay people try to make that link.

Now, I could it see how prop 8 would be a civil rights issue if gays were a particular skin color, let's say like yellow or pink, that would easily identify them as being gay, and we were telling them that they could not get married.

As for me, I was not influenced by the mormons or catholics to vote "yes" on prop 8. I did it for my own personal beliefs.

[Sue B]

hey, don't they have any relatives that are gay? 10% are.

[Lulu]

Amen to you Edward, as far as the Gays and Lesbians you can as the court to validated your sin but or hearts will always be true to God.

[hangen]

whew, there is a God. Prop 8 almost did not pass.