Voters in Arizona and Florida passed amendments to their states’ constitutions enshrining discrimination against LGBT people and denying marriage, and in some cases civil unions or domestic partnerships as well, to same-sex couples. Proposition 8 in California still remains too close to call.
“We all know that our marriages did not begin with a court decision and they will not end with a vote on a discriminatory amendment,” said Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese.
“In California, we firmly believe that all votes should be counted before calling the race. Several million votes in CA have yet to be counted. We are waiting to see the final results from those ballots and we should not be speculating about something as important as people’s fundamental rights,” continued Solmonese.
“Although we lost our battles in Arizona and Florida, we will not allow the lies and hate—the foundation on which our opponents built their campaign—to break our spirits. We are on the right side of history—and we will continue this journey.
“The continuing movement in public opinion underscores that it is only a matter of time before we undo this loss and add more states to the march for marriage equality,” Solmonese continued.
HRC played a key role in the efforts to defeat Proposition 8 and other the other ballot measures in Arizona and Florida:
Through our new dedicated PAC, HRC raised $3.4 million dollars for the No on Proposition 8 campaign and had eight staff, including National Field Director Marty Rouse, on the ground in California in the weeks and months before Election Day.
HRC raised $50,000 to combat Arizona’s proposed marriage amendment.
HRC raised $120,000 to combat Florida’s anti-gay ballot initiative, and allocated a Campaign College participant and four staff to the effort.
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