Thanks to Jon and Stephen for this invitation. IGF has been close to my heart since its inception, and I'm glad to be here as it moves into a new stage.
For those who don't know me, I've been working on gay issues here in California since the mid 1980s, when California passed the first domestic partnership ordinances. I confess to being a California partisan, even when (as now) our state is in the midst of both political and economic chaos. My only defense is the beaches. . .
Despite the common stereotype, it's important to remember that California is not a wildly liberal state. During the entire 20th Century, we only elected four Democratic governors -- and two of them were named Brown. And the last Democrat we elected got recalled from office.
I mention that because it shows it's not just liberals -- or Democrats -- who support gay rights, and are willing to vote for them. The Prop. 8 fight demonstrates that we still have some convincing left to do, but don't forget that this election was a straight up-or-down vote on marriage, and only marriage -- and we got about 48% of the vote. And that 48% was among people who voted in one of the highest-turnout elections in the nation's history.
We have accomplished this is a state where only a little over 40% of the voters register as Democrats -- and not all of them voted against Prop. 8. It is tempting and convenient to think in partisan terms, but for those of us engaged in the fight for marriage equality, it is not enough. There are no partisan arguments that will change the minds of the people who remain to be convinced. That's why I value IGF, and why I'm glad to be part of this conversation.