My fiancé of six years and I were watching the Prop 8 results roll in, nervously watching the percentages shift slightly to and fro, and something occurred to me. I turned to him and asked, "Are you going to ask your parents how they voted on this?"
Steve's parents live in Oceanside, California, and I think of them as "head-in-the-sand Republicans". His mother is always forwarding scary Obama talking points and other right-wing craziness, and seems to be a regular Fox News watcher. Needless to say, having a political conversation with them is a painful experience, as they are simultaneously ill-informed and eager to share their misinformation.
Just like with my own Republican dad, I have always figured it was better to just try and ignore the political differences— not bring them up and try to change the subject when they do. It's just not possible to spend any time with them and enjoy their company when politics comes up.
But I think if they voted in support of Proposition 8—and it's likely that they did—I won't be able to do that anymore. If they don't want me in the family, then, with all due respect, fuck them. I'm going on an indefinite family hiatus.
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On a lighter note, anyone else who's frustrated by the slow trickle of results on Prop 8 and is having trouble "reading" how things are going, take a look at this diary by chrism315 that uses current results by county and extrapolates a final result proportionally. It shows you how close the final count would be if all continues as it is now, and proves that the vote really is too close to call.
(Personally, I was having trouble seeing that four-point spread and believing that the race really wasn't over... especially after the swiftness of the Obama victory...)
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UPDATE:: There's also a diary by Rei with a link to a page that forecasts the California initiatives with a automatic script.