Marriage Equality Non-Profit Publishes Stories of Psychological Fallout from Prop 8

Since Proposition 8 passed, Marriage Equality USA, an Oakland-based non-profit, has been surveying people online and around California about the effects of the initiative's campaign on their lives.

Today, MEUSA published a report entitled, "Prop 8 Hurt My Family -- Ask me How," which documents the verbal abuse, homophobia, physical harm, and discrimination people reported as a result of the campaign. Some children with gay parents expressed fears that they could be taken away from their families, and some students and teachers reported Prop 8-related bullying at their schools. Many people said that Prop 8 divided their families and communities.

Though the surveys aren't scientific, MEUSA tallied up the percentage of respondents that said they experienced homophobia, hate speech, threats or violence during the campaign, and broke those numbers down into age and sexual orientation categories. In total, 38 percent of the respondents said they encountered at least one of the four.  

The report is the second in a series of three, the first of which was called "We Will Never go Back -- Grassroots Input on California's No on Proposition 8 Campaign."  

Although the report identified positive outcomes from the official No on 8 campaign, it also brought up concerns such as the underutilization of clergy leaders, the lack of outreach to people of color, and the exclusion of same-sex couples from the advertisements, which MEUSA found "lacked heart."

The final report, coming later in January, will detail MEUSA's plan to win support for marriage equality in all 50 states.

Photo by Bill Wilson