Oh, and about Prop 8 II: The Racial Statistics

As mentioned in my previous post about Prop 8, the reported statistic that 70 percent of African-Americans in California voted yes has been getting a good amount of traction in the press. I quoted it as well, with some reservation, because it reeks of scapegoating.

Well, somebody over at Daily Kos has broken that number down. It's a long and, for the math-phobic, headache-inducing read, but the blogger's bottom line is this:

In other words, Proposition 8 would have still passed by 81,565 votes, if Black voters had done no more than reflect the rest of the state's will on the matter.

Still, I do agree with Andrew Sullivan that the gay community needs to do more to engage minorities as we, as a country, continue to try to make that transition from tolerance to full acceptance of homosexuality. Not that whites are any more enlightened, but the black and Latino voting bloc is crucial when it comes to passing legislation, and they need to be spoken to directly -- as any successful politician would have to -- in trying to win votes.

Who in Ventura hates gays the most? The answer may surprise you...

As per the L.A. Times' Proposition 8 donor tracker, the city's biggest homophobe is: Lassen's Health Food! Apparently, the proceeds from all those free-range cantaloupes and all-natural wood chips (or whatever the hell they sell there) have gone toward making sure no queers threaten the sanctity of Mr. Lassen's marriage -- $27,500 of it, anyway.

Hope your clean colons were worth it, hippies.

Other big-time pro-Prop 8 contributors in my beloved ex-hometown, where even the organic grocers draw the line at gays tying the knot:

- CHERYL WILDE (WIFE OF COMMUNITY MEMORIAL HEALTH SYSTEM CEO GARY WILDE), $27,500
- BOHL, NIXON & SCHONEMAN, $2,000
- KARL HARER (HARER & MORTENSEN CHIROPRACTIC), $1,500
- LORI HOOKE, $1,200
- BRYCE JOHNSON, $1,000
- JOAN BEEM, $1,000
- JOHN JONES DDS, $1,000
- MARTHA SUTTNER, $1,000
- MARY HUXLEY, $1,000
- RIDGWAY POPE, $1,000
- TED COOK, $1,000
- TERRI KUMP, $1,000
- VENTURA PEST CONTROL, $1,000