Proposition 22, the antigay Knight Initiative that excluded gays from marriage, passed with approximately 60 percent of the vote, according to incomplete election results. That was the margin that polls ha been showing for months. It appears that the multimillion dollar campaign waged by gay rights advocates had little impact on changing people's minds. The vote was close even in San Francisco.
The No on Knight organization called the vote "a disappointment but not a defeat." In a written statement it looked for a silver lining, "We turned a conversation is no longer about if our families should have full protections, but about how we should be afforded those protections."
Four lesbian candidates won their California Democratic primary races. Sheila Kuehl cruised to an easy victory in a heavily Democratic district and is virtually assured to become the first openly gay California State Senator.
Also running in heavily Democratic districts, Jackie Goldberg likely will move from the Los Angeles City Council, and Christine Kehoe from the San Diego City Council to the State Assembly to join San Francisco Rep Carole Migden. Toni Atkins will vie to replace Kehoe in San Diego.
"The election of so many exemplary openly lesbian candidates will help shine the clear light of representation amidst the shadows of discrimination cast by the passage of Proposition 22," said Brian Bond, executive director of the Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund.