Article Rebuttal
In this paper the subject discussed concerns the 2008 introduction of California Proposition 8. It will contest the statements made by the author and provide meaningful information that will rebut the misleading assertions documented in the article.
Statement 1
According to Laura Brill, the author of the article – It’s time for Prop. 8 opponents to re-engage” (Brill, May 26 2011, Pg 1) published in the OC Register, the majority of the population supports equal marriage rights. “Now, two years later, though a federal court has declared Proposition 8 invalid under the U.S. Constitution, it nonetheless remains in effect. This state of affairs persists even though most people now support equal marriage rights….”
The hyperbolic statement that most people now support equal marriage rights is a gross exaggeration. The results from respected polling agencies continue to show the majority of Americans still do not agree with same sex marriages. Recent polling results reflect that 46% of Americans do not favor acceptance of same sex marriages. The same polling figures documented 9% of the responses in the “Do not know” category with the remaining numbers for those in favor of same sex marriage to be the minority. (Pew Research Center, 2011) Statement 2
“The initiative proponents, however, have appealed. Now the California Supreme Court must decide whether unelected and unaccountable initiative proponents have the power to trump the judgment of the democratically elected attorney general.”
This statement is an attempt to stereotype the majority of the citizens who supported Prop 8 as renegades and attempting to operate above the law. The author fails to recognize that 52% of the California voters approved the clause "Only
References: Baume, M. (2011, May 26), Obstacles remain for a Prop 8 repeal, Retrieved from http://www.greenlining.org/news/in-the-news/2011/obstacles-remain-for-a-prop-8-repeal Brill, L. (May 26, 2011), It’s time for Prop. 8 opponents to re-engage, Retrieved from http://articles.ocregister.com/2011-05-26/news/29591989_1_marriage-rights-initiative-basic-rights Pew Research Center, (2011), Most Say Homosexuality Should Be Accepted By Society. Retrieved from http://people-press.org/2011/05/13/most-say-homosexuality-should-be-accepted-by-society/: Yoshino, K. (2009). Prop. 8: Which way now? Advocate, (1022), 36, Retrieved from EBSCOhost.