Taking the Initiative

While the nation was squarely focused last night on Obama's historic victory, several important ballot initiatives were also decided, largely with similar results nationwide. In summary, it was a bad night for fetuses and the GLBT community, and a good night for pot-heads and the terminally ill.

California Prop. 4, which would have required parental notification and a 48 hour waiting period before a minor could obtain an abortion, was defeated in a close vote. South Dakota Initiative 11, which would have eliminated abortion except in the case of danger to a woman's life or health, or in the case of rape or incest, was defeated by a similar margin to a similar initiative two years ago. Colorado voters refused to define life as beginning at the moment of conception, and Michigan's electorate wrote stem cell research into the state constitution.

It was, however, a highly disappointing night for the Gay and Lesbian community. Gay marriage bans passed in Arizona, Florida, and California (where the LDS-funded Prop. 8 was a HUGE controversy). At the same time that they helped usher in one of their own to the White House, blacks in California voted more than two to one to write discrimination against homosexuals into the state constitution.

President-elect Obama's virtually silent opposition didn't seem to sway them much, and in fact there's even talk today that the increase in black turnout precipitated by his candidacy is what pushed the Proposition through. Arkansas also banned adoption by unmarried couples, to be read as gay couples. For all the breathless headlines, tolerance and equality under the law had only a so-so night.

Marijuana advocates, however, were not disappointed by the night's results. The compassionate use Proposition 1 in Michigan was approved by a better than 3:2 margin, and 7 in 10 Massachussettes voters elected to decriminalize possession of less than one ounce of Marijuana, levying a $100 civil fine per offense. While such advances made little headway during the Bush years, when the "states rights" President routinely ordered raids on legally sanctioned dispensaries in states with Compassionate Use laws, it is much less clear that a President Obama would stand in the way of such measures. Finally, Washington became the second state after Oregon to legislate the right to terminate one's life in the face of terrible illness, by a fairly sizable margin.

So, it appears the culture wars, while not as central to the American political dialogue as they once were, are indeed alive and well, as well as fundamentally unchanged. The nation is still largely pro-choice and still somewhat anti-gay, but can get together around around a joint in their buddy's basement. God Bless America.