UCSD Students Walk Out Over Prop 8

By MICHELLE WAYLAND

Updated 7:20 AM PST, Sat, Nov 15, 2008

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More than 100 University of California, San Diego students walked off campus in protest of the passage of Proposition 8 Friday, police said.

“It is fundamentally discrimination,” said Kyle Samia. He says the protesters are not with an organization or club. “We’re just here expressing community grievance,” said Samia. “With Proposition 8 our rights were effectively written out of the constitution. We as UCSD students are offended.”

San Diego police monitored the rally. “There have been no issues, they have been very cooperative,” said San Diego police Capt. Shelly Zimmerman.

San Diego is one of several cities up and down the state to hold marches in recent days to protest the passage of the measure, which bans same-sex marriage in California.

“We want our voices heard,” said Shannon Stegeman. “We are staging a walkout to show our disapproval of the ban on gay marriage imposed by Prop 8.”

Energized by the passage of Prop. 8, conservative activists say they want to apply the same formula they used to outlaw same-sex marriage in California to prevent other states from recognizing gay unions and President-elect Barack Obama from expanding the rights of gays and lesbians.

Leaders of the successful Proposition 8 campaign say an unusual coalition of evangelical Christians, Mormons and Roman Catholics built a majority at the polls by harnessing the organizational muscle of churches to a mainstream message about what school children might be taught about gay relationships if the ban failed.

Cyberspace Invasion

Protest over the passage of Proposition 8 is growing on the internet. Websites are listing the names of donors, businesses, and the dollar amount of contributions.

While some have expressed their concern over boycott lists, others don't seem to mind. Behrouz Younessian owns The Brass Ring Inc, an iron works business in Vista.

"I have no problem with people knowing where I stand," said Younessian.

But the accuracy of the boycott lists has been called into question. The site shows Younessian donated $2,000 to the Yes on 8 campaign. He says he actually donated $2,500.

Another site allows you to cross check donors. The data base was created by a computer-assisted reporting specialist who compiled an analysis of Prop. 8 campaign contributions for the Associated Press.

Meanwhile, boycott lists are also circulating on cell phones via text message. But their accuracy is also being called into question. One such text called for a boycott of the Golden Spoon Yogurt shop in Hillcrest. However, the owner did not contribute to the campaign.

"It was a very quick, fast acting backlash that I didn't have a chance to even respond to. We had hundreds of phone calls, a lot of hate calls," said Rick Park, owner of the Golden Spoon on University Ave.

Proposition 8 Petition

Five civil rights groups are seeking to have California's new same-sex marriage ban annulled on the grounds that Proposition 8 threatens the legal standing of all minority groups, not just gays.

The NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Mexican-American Legal Defense Fund, Asian Pacific American Legal Center and two other groups asked the state Supreme Court Friday to issue a stay preventing the ballot initiative approved by voters from taking effect.

The petition is the fourth seeking to have the measure invalidated. But it's the first to argue that the court should step in because the gay marriage ban sets a constitutional precedent that could be used to undermine the rights of racial minorities.