Civil Rights up for Vote: Placing Proposition 8 in the History of California's Voter Referendums

My talk looks comparatively at California's Proposition 14 (1964, anti-fair housing); Proposition 6 (1978; anti-homosexual teachers); and Proposition 8 (2008, anti-same-sex marriage). I shall focus on the parallels and the differences between all three in relation to: the language and proposed effect of the proposition; the campaigns ‘for' and ‘against' the measures; and the varying outcomes, including subsequent litigation surrounding the measures.