Proposition 8 Blowback ... Part ???

I don't agree with the tactics described here or here - both represent a kind of protest that is wholly inappropriate.

That said, when millions of dollars are spent to strip rights from people, or to deny them equal standing in society, one cannot be overly shocked when there is a dramatic backlash. I stated back here that the most public backers of Proposition 8 in California would find themselves bearing the brunt of the outrage many would feel over that proposition's passage - I cannot claim that I'm overly surprised that some would resort to more extreme expressions of their outrage - although I am disappointed.

On a more constructive front, the legal challenges for Proposition 8 are intriguing indeed. Over at Lambda Legal, they have quite an interesting case they are putting forward:

The groups argue that Prop. 8 is invalid because it improperly attempts to undo the constitution's core commitment to equality and deprives the courts of their essential role of protecting the rights of minorities. According to the California Constitution, such a radical change in the way the courts and state government work cannot be decided by a simple ballot measure.

The California Constitution makes clear that a major change in the roles played by the different branches of government cannot be made by a simple majority vote through the initiative process, but at the very least must first go through the state legislature. Changes to the underlying principles of the constitution must be approved by two-thirds of both houses of the legislature before going to voters. That didn't happen with Proposition 8, and that's why it's invalid.

Interesting argument - I'll be very curious to see how far it goes. In the meantime, I sincerely hope that the recent reports of violence and implied violence are no more than the short term outrage of a few, and not a sign of a more extreme backlash - that will do nobody in the argument any good.