As the much-awaited Nov. 4 election draws closer, the SF State community is voicing strong opinions on whether gay couples should be allowed to marry.

The initiative measure on the California general election ballot titled “Eliminates Rights of Same-Sex Couples to Marry” has generated a good deal of controversy within the liberal San Francisco community and the campus.

If passed, Proposition 8 would change the California Constitution to eliminate the right of same-sex couples to marry in California and a new section would be added saying that only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in the state, according to the 2008 Elections Official Voter Guide.

Faculty and students believe that the campus is predominantly opposed to Proposition 8.

“I think the campus is overwhelmingly against [Proposition] 8,” said James Martel, chair of the political science department. “We are a leftist, liberal school.”

Gary, a member of the Queer Alliance who declined to give his last name, believes that there are a good number of people opposing the proposition on campus. Many have come into their office over the past few weeks requesting for “No on 8” campaign fliers and bumper stickers, he said.

“Many people who are in support of Proposition 8 have arguments that are geared more towards the question, ‘What are we going to tell the children?’” Gary said. “But there are also many homosexual families, and their kids live great lives, so what’s the big deal?”

Bearing dark blue “No on Prop 8” buttons on their shirts and backpacks, a crowd of SF State students gathered in Malcolm X Plaza Monday to hear Christine Chavez, daughter of civil rights activist Cesar Chavez, rally students to vote against Proposition 8.

The rally was part of the “Get Up, Vote Down 4 and 8” statewide college campus campaign led by Chavez and a few other opponents of the two propositions.

“Proposition 8 is about denying rights to people,” Chavez said. “I don’t want to live in a California that does that. I know many people don’t want to live in a California that can do that.”

Alyson Kennedy, vice president of the Social Workers Campaign, was also present at the rally. “People choose who they want to marry and the state should stay out of it,” she said.

Proposition 8 is not the first ballot initiative that seeks to ban gay marriage. In 2000, voters passed Proposition 22 with 61 percent of the vote, which formally changed the definition of marriage in the California Family Code as being between a man and a woman.

In 2005 and again in 2007, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed the Religious Freedom and Civil Marriage Protection Act. This act marked the first time approved a bill authorizing same-sex marriage without a court order.

But in May 2008, the California Supreme Court ruled that Proposition 22 and other similar legislation violated the equal protection clause of the state constitution, granting same-sex couples the right to marry.

Student Eric Soracco, like many others on campus, is opposed to the proposition. “That’s not America,” he said. “All people are created equal and taking away certain rights to certain people is not very American.”

But Martel also believes that there are some on campus that support Proposition 8. “I’m sure there are pro-8 people too, but they are not very visible.”

Alexander Anin, an SF State alumnus who works closely with SF State students through a local nonprofit, is one of those people.

“Same sex couples in domestic partnerships already have the same rights and benefits as married couples,” he said. “Why does something like marriage, which is an institution, be redefined as something other than what it has been throughout history? This imposes the beliefs of one community on other communities, and it isn’t just.”

Anin said that being a supporter of the proposition on a campus like SF State is difficult because most people are opposed to it. “We immediately get shot down,” he said, adding that he and some students who had posted “Yes on 8” signs on their lawns and houses in the city had the signs either stolen or vandalized.

Gerald Flores, a student, agreed to this and said that most of his friends at school are opposed to the proposition—but he himself supports it.

“I’m not against gay people being together,” he said. “I have a lot of friends who are gay. But personally, I just believe that marriage should be between a man and a woman.”