Yes, I'm talking about Proposition 8, the California constitutional amendment that bans same-sex marriage. The overall numbers are around 52 percent Yes, 48 percent No ... not at all a comfortable margin, and much smaller than the 61 percent victory of the similar Proposition 22, which the Cali Supreme Court overturned this May. But close is no cigar for tens of thousands of longstanding queer marriages which have been legally legitimized, and legally broken, twice now.

That narrow margin is what is leading pundits to speculate that the unusually large PoC vote made up the difference. Exit polls show that 49 percent of Asians (a nice surprise for me, actually; I would have guessed a cool 60 percent), 53 percent of Latinos, and a whopping 70 percent of African Americans voted Yes on 8, together easily representing the margin that put the proposition over the line.

Possible reasons include: general homophobia among PoC communities, Christianity, disinformation, and a reverse Bradley Effect. Re: homophobia, especially in the black community: you can never just look away from this explanation, but you can't simply accept it, either. The African American community has been targeted over the years with many different accusations of prejudice and closed-mindedness, in part because this is an easy and safe way to attack African Americans who are perceived to have the moral high ground when it comes to discrimination. So I hesitate to hurl any accusations on this head, although a 70 percent come-down for a gay marriage ban is pretty breathtaking. I hope to hear a great deal about what happened there in the coming months from queer allies in the black community.

We've also seen this accuse-and-conquer tactic used in this election against Asians and Latinos when speculating as to whether or not they would vote for a black candidate, although the history of discrimination accusations against Asians and Latinos isn't as clear-cut as that against blacks. It's mostly been used in the past to divide the PoC communities from each other, which is what was going on earlier in this election as well. The answer to the will-they-vote-Obama question is pretty obvious now, but how this works together with voter turnout and Yes on 8 remains unclear. What I'm saying is: be careful with this one, especially while you're still feeling angry and bitter.

It's also not a huge stretch to say that -- in PoC communities as in white ones -- people voted their religion in this election more than their color or party, when it came to cultural (as opposed to economic or politically ideological) issues. There are no Christian establishment churches in the U.S. that do not oppose gay marriage. And that's all I need to say about that, beyond cautioning against anyone trying to calculate the alchemy that renders a vote from professed religion and individual conscience.

As for the "reverse Bradley Effect," this LA Times commentator extends the definition beyond voters saying they'll vote for a black candidate but not doing so. The blogger reminds us that the Bradley election included a gun control measure that may have brought out white conservative voters who might otherwise not have turned out. The implication here is that the people polled during the Obama campaign may well have been lying about being able to vote for a black candidate, but the hope engendered by Obama's high numbers could have turned out culturally disenfranchised voters who otherwise would have stayed at home ... especially voters of color. The Prop 8 win was -- as the Bradley loss in 1982 -- an unintended side-effect.

Let's look away from a progressive political process that counts on poor voters of color not going to the polls, to look at the enormous, well-funded, and successful disinformation campaign mounted by Prop 8's backers, many of whom were sending money in from out of state. This campaign spouted a number of lies, including that California already required that children be taught about gay marriage in school. On the one hand, if you're already struggling with homophobic feelings, and having them validated by your pastor, this might just be the final push you need. On the other hand, suggesting that communities of color are more susceptible -- less able to see through -- outrageous disinformation campaigns is yet another typical condescending view.

The one thing that everyone can agree on is that the No on 8 campaign was started too late, poorly run, and ineffective.

So there doesn't seem to be a single reason, or culprit, here. All I know is that, during a week that I should have been unreservedly proud to be a person of color in the United States, I have had to share my elation with shame and anger and bitterness.

Let's not go through this again. Whatever the reason, the onus is on us people of color -- particularly progressive, organized PoC with access to media -- to get into this fight and make sure Prop 8 gets overturned. Don't let this stain on our constitution stand!

Check back in with No on 8 and the Human Rights Campaign for further actions in the coming months.