California Prop 3 Would Appeal and Prevent Possible Harm From Previous Notorious Anti-Gay Law

This November, one of the ballot initiatives, Proposition 3, will essentially undo Proposition 8, California’s infamous anti-same-gender marriage law.

In 2008, Prop 8 was passed in California, a ballot initiative that outlawed same-gender marriage and was largely funded by the Mormon Church. However, one of the ballot initiatives featured in this November’s election is Prop 3, a law that would enshrine same-gender marriage into the state Constitution and would essentially undo and override Prop 8.

Prop 3, if passed, will approve a “fundamental right to marry” and remove language that defines marriage as strictly between a man and a woman. 

California has had a tumultuous journey to marriage equality. Starting in 2004, Gavin Newsom, the mayor of San Francisco at the time, used the California Constitution’s equal protection clause to have city officials provide marriage licenses to same-gender couples. In less than a month, California city officials, including Newsom and Kamala Harris (San Francisco District Attorney at the time), officiated about 4,000 same-gender marriages before the State Supreme Court overturned Newsom’s claim. 

The court experienced backlash and lawsuits followed, and the court reversed its decision in 2008, becoming the second state to legalize same-gender marriage after Massachusetts. However, two weeks before the official decision, opponents of same-sex marriage used $20 million from the Mormon Church to get a constitutional amendment on the ballot titled “Eliminates Right of Same-Sex Couples to Marry Act.” 

To the surprise of many, this act, Prop 8, passed with 52% of the vote. It was ruled unconstitutional in 2013 by the Supreme Court after same-gender marriage was fully legalized in 2015’s Obergefell v Hodges decision. Despite this, Prop 8 remains in the California Constitution and would outlaw same-sex marriage if Obergefell v Hodges was overturned. 

This is where Prop 3 comes in. Written by State Assemblymember Evan Low (D) of Silicon Valley and State Sen. Scott Weiner (D-SF), Prop 3 aims to reject and prevent further harm that Prop 8 put into pace.

Low spoke to LGBTQ Nation about Prop 3, saying “It’s in direct response to Roe v. Wade being overturned because the Supreme Court said after Roe that marriage equality would be next. If they show you who they are, we need to believe that.”