15 Years Ago, Prop 8 Banned Gay Marriage in California. What Do You Remember?

KQED's Forum

KQED

News, Politics, News Commentary

4.2 • 726 Ratings

🗓️ 28 November 2023

⏱️ 56 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Proposition 8 passed 15 years ago this month, banning same-gender marriage in California. Two couples — one lesbian, one gay — sued to overturn the proposition and succeeded, with gay marriage made legal in California in 2013. The trial was videotaped, but those tapes didn’t become public until last year. That inspired KQED reporters Scott Shafer and Carlos Cabrera-Lomeli to invite those two couples to watch their testimony and reflect on how much LGBTQ rights have changed — and how far we’ve yet to go. We’ll talk with them and with plaintiffs Kris Perry and Sandy Stier, and we’ll hear from you: What do you remember from Prop 8? Related link(s): Inside the Trial That Overturned California’s Same-Sex Marriage Ban | KQED Guests: Carlos Cabrera-Lomeli, community engagement reporter, KQED Scott Shafer, senior editor, KQED’s California Politics and Government desk; co-host, Political Breakdown Kristin (Kris) Perry, plaintiff, Perry vs. Schwarzenegger Sandy Stier, plaintiff, Perry vs. Schwarzenegger Vaughn Walker, United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California from 1989 to 2011; presided over Perry v. Schwarzenegger Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Support for Kikiweedy Podcasts comes from Rancho La Puerta, a wellness resort on 4,000 acres located 45 minutes from downtown San Diego.
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0:16.7	Support for Forum comes from Broadway S.F. presenting Parade, the musical revival based on a true story.
0:24.5	From three-time Tony-winning composer Jason Robert Brown comes the story of Leo and Lucille Frank,
0:30.7	a newlywed Jewish couple struggling to make a life in Georgia.
0:34.8	When Leo is accused of an unspeakable crime, it propels them into an unimaginable
0:40.2	test of faith, humanity, justice, and devotion. The riveting and gloriously hopeful parade
0:47.2	plays the Orpheum Theater for three weeks only, May 20th through June 8th. Tickets on sale now
0:54.0	at Broadwaysf.com.
0:57.8	From KQBD in San Francisco, I'm Mina Kim. Coming up on forum, same-sex marriage was made legal in California in 2013.
1:21.6	But in 2008, California voters banned gay marriage with the passage of Proposition Aid and ads like this.
1:28.8	Teaching children about gay marriage will happen here unless we pass Proposition 8. Yes, on 8.
1:34.6	This hour, we look back on that day 15 years ago this month and reflect on how far LGBTQ-plus rights have come and how far we've yet to go.
1:43.6	We'll talk to one of the couples that sued to
1:45.5	overturn the marriage ban, and we want to hear from you. What do you remember about the passage
1:51.0	of Prop 8? Join us. Welcome to Forum. I'm Mina Kim. Do you remember the night Proposition 8 passed banning same-sex marriage in California? It was November 4, 2008. California's had just elected Barack Obama president before taking away the right to marry that had been granted to gay and lesbian
2:18.4	couples by the state Supreme Court just months earlier.
2:22.3	For LGBTQ-plus voters, it was political whiplash, writes KQED's Scott Schaefer,
2:28.0	Euphoria and Despair in one night.
2:31.6	Two couples sued to stop Prop 8, and one of those couples joins me now, Chris Perry and
2:37.2	Sandra Steer.
	...

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