On Nov. 5, journalism sophomore Nick Blumberg was angry and disappointed — but not surprised.

Also on Nov. 5, journalism freshman William Melugin, felt good and thought, “It shows America isn’t ready for that change.”

Both of these reactions are from Proposition 102 passing in Arizona.

Proposition 102 is a proposition that legislatively amends the Arizona constitution to define marriage as between one man and one woman. This was already a legally defined law in Arizona. It was absent from the constitution, though. Now, making gay marriage legal within the state will require a constitutional amendment, making it more difficult for homosexuals and their supporters to pass such a law. Proposition 102 was passed with 56.2 percent of Arizona voters voting yes and 43.8 percent voters voting no, according to ballotpedia.org.

Blumberg, who is gay, is not at all shocked that people voted to pass Prop 102. He says he was expecting it to be the outcome.

“I really never had any doubt that it would pass here,” Blumberg says.
Creative writing sophomore Stephanie Mahan, the co-director of ASU’s Human Rights Campaign, says their organization tried hard to make sure Proposition 102 didn’t pass, but now that it has, ASU’s chapter is trying to actively participate in the protests. The Human Rights Campaign is a national program that works for equal rights for gays, lesbians, transgenders and bisexuals.

ASU HRC members have been present at many protests that have taken place since Prop 102 passed.

“The thing about the protests, they weren’t just people from the gay community,” Mahan says. “It was people who were saying ‘I love my gay son,’ or ‘I love my gay brother.’ Or there were people there who were just allies showing their support.”

Mahan, who is an ally herself, says there was never a time in her life where she felt animosity toward homosexuals. Mahan says there were specific experiences she had that caused her to not be discriminatory toward the gay community. She says in high school she had a small group of friends, most of whom were gay.

“I would sit with them in the cafeteria and because I was just sitting with them, I would have fries thrown at me and they would call me a faggot,” Mahan says. “I got to see firsthand how they were treated just because they weren’t heterosexual.”

Mahan now protests the passing of the proposition because she thinks marriage is a strong part of American society. She thinks it’s a slap in the face for homosexuals to not receive validation from the government when it comes to gay marriage.

“You have to think about how that makes gay people feel, especially teenagers,” Mahan says. “There are statistics about homosexual teen suicide. When the government is even telling you you’re not normal, your marriages aren’t normal, people are going to feel worthless enough to not want to live anymore.”

In an article by Philip A. Rutter and Emil Soucar, they say research conducted in the past two decades shows sexual minority youth (gay, lesbian, and bisexual) exhibit more suicidal ideation than do their heterosexual peers.

However, Mahan says Prop 102 goes deeper than statistics. She says despite this proposition passing, she has still not given up hope that it will be reversed.

“I think eventually, during my life time, gay marriage will be legal,” Mahan says. “I think it will be on a federal level though.

Mahan says she and ASU’s HRC are currently working on bringing people together and educating them.

“We can’t predict what will happen,” Mahan says. “This will not be easy to change. But we’re not finished fighting or done trying.”

Mahan says right now, she is trying to show a lot of support for California and their situation with Proposition 8.

“We’re mobilized and ready to help them,” Mahan says.

Mahan also says on Dec. 10, ASU’s HRC is participating in an event called “A Day Without Gays.” The even encourages people to take the day off work or school and volunteer in the community. Mahan said it’s supposed to show people how gay people are in the community and how they too enhance the community.

“We hope it will show people how many gay people they know,” Mahan says. “The more people realize how many gay people are in the community, the more they will realize how many people were affected by Prop 102.

Reach the reporter at sheydt@asu.edu.