Prop. 8 wars rage on Facebook

In the wake of the apparent passage of California Proposition 8, a second generation of rancorous debate has already sprung up online, with Facebook becoming a prominent virtual battleground. Before the election, Facebook users created dozens of groups on both sides of the measure, some with tens of thousandsof followers, others with justa handful. (This anti-Prop. 8 group was even started by Facebook employees.)

Just as the memberships of those older groups continue to swell (see image at left), the new crop of groups is growing fast.

Opponents are using Facebook to organize protests, boycotts and more creative kinds of political statements.

One group encourages readers to Protest Proposition 8 by paying with $2 Bills! If enough people pay with "The Queer Dollar," the group's description predicts, "$2 bills will flood the economy, and everyone will see how much LGBT and Allies's money contributes."

Proponents of the marriage ban wasted no time in setting up new groups to defend the amendment's passage.

"This group demands that the vote of the people be respected in our democracy," reads the description of 1,000,000 for Defending Prop 8, which has earned nearly 7,500 members since election day. "Thousands of individuals fought for marriage, donated time and money, and sometimes were persecuted for it. We have come too far in this election to have it thrown out after the battle has been won."

Also employing the now-familiar "million for X" brand of Facebook activism is 1,000,000 Million Strong Against Newly Passed Prop. 8. (The group's creator sheepishly acknowledges the redundancy in the name), which already has nearly 60,000 members. "Proposition 8 is not just about eliminating gay rights," the groups founder wrote in its intro box. "It's about DESTROYING the FOUNDATION [of] what our California Constitution stands for."

Get the Facts about the LDS Church and Proposition 8 notes that it"was set up to refute and dispel the countless untruths floating around regarding the Mormon church's involvement in Proposition 8," and Repeal the CA Ban on Marriage Equality - 2010 shares information about the legal challenges to the measure and the large protests that are now being organized (including a developing event activists are calling the Million Gay March).