For the first half-century of his life, he said, gays were hidden in the margins and no one he knew ever talked about gays' rights. Gays and lesbians seeking marriage was unimaginable.
"I think they should be able to do what they want to do," he said. "But the law of this land is that marriage is between a man and a woman."
Nowhere is monolithic, of course. Nearly 43% of voters in Orange County voted "no" on Proposition 8. And plenty of people approached Monday in Seal Beach were against the measure or somewhere in the middle.
Laury Creyaufmiller, 40, played with her 4-year-old son on the beach's giant sand berm. She said she was happy to see the protesters on television.
"That's why this country is so great," she said. "To be honest, I don't really understand the issue. If you're a man and don't believe in gay marriage, you shouldn't marry a man."
Creyaufmiller said the margin of victory by 4.6 percentage points statewide did not send a clear message that Californians were against gay marriage.
"The people basically said some of us think this is OK, and some of us don't," she said.
Some supporters of the ban said they were trying to be as tolerant as they could, and took umbrage with the allegation, made repeatedly at protests, that they were homophobes.
Yvonne Lee, 64, playing with her grandchildren at the beach playground, said she has family members who are gay whom she would never want to hurt.
But as an evangelical Christian, she said she knows the "correct forces of nature." She noted that this is the second time Californians have voted to ban gay marriage, referring to Proposition 22 in 2000, which was overturned in May by the state Supreme Court.
"They lost," she said. "Accept it."
She too feared the ever-invoked slippery slope.
"What are people going to be asking for next?" she asked.
Bob Murphy, a Huntington Beach bike shop owner, does not see a valid comparison between gay-marriage proponents and civil rights protesters of the past and present.
"It is a moral issue," said Murphy, 64. "It isn't a civil rights issue. You can't just do anything you want."
He said gay marriage defies a basic instinct people have about the natural order of human relations.
And as a pastor, he said he fears the government would begin to put limits on what he could preach if gay marriage becomes legal.
But he and a friend who met for lunch shrugged about the court challenges, as if the measure's overturning were inevitable.
"What am I going to do?" asked his friend, who did not want to give his name. "Move to Canada," which actually allows same-sex marriage.
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joe.mozingo@latimes.com
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(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)
Proposition 8 on the web
More coverage on Proposition 8 is available at latimes.com.
L.A. NOW
latimes.com/now
An exit poll shows how different groups in L.A. voted on Prop. 8.
Are African Americans being criticized unfairly for Prop. 8's passage?
Where are activists planning their next demonstration?
Share your opinions about the election and the street protests.
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INTERACTIVE MAPS
latimes.com/prop8maps
County-by-county comparisons of Prop. 4 and Prop. 8 voting.
County-by-county comparisons of Prop. 8 and 2000's Prop. 22.
Database of Prop. 8 contributors.
