The presidential election is less than one week away and there's no shortage of musicians offering up their political opinions. But also less than a week away is the vote on a controversial proposition in California, Proposition 8, which, if passed, would ban same-sex marriage. The heavily debated Prop 8 has drawn eyes, ears and a lot of money from those in opposition, including Ellen DeGeneres, Fall Out Boy's Pete Wentz, Steven Spielberg and now out musician Melissa Etheridge.

"Prop 8 is a blatantly hateful, and fearful proposition that I believe the great citizens of California can see through," Etheridge writes in an essay for the Daily Beast. "The proponents of it have run the most fearful of television ads telling the people that if this doesn't pass they will have to teach about homos to small grade school children ... Now, I know my preference of life mate freaks some people out. Maybe it is just their fear of sex or intimacy. I know that they hold up the bible and say that it's wrong. Fine, let me stand before my creator and take any consequences there might be to living my life in truth and balance with my spirit."

Etheridge wed actress Tammy Lynn Michaels in 2003, the day after then-Gov. Grey Davis gave same-sex couples domestic partnership rights. "It was a magical ceremony that started with my children walking with me down the aisle to meet my bride as the two aisles merged into one," she writes. "I wanted to stand in front of my community of family and friends and declare my promise to be committed to my partner, now my wife, through thick and thin."

For opponents of the measure, Etheridge's nine-year-old son perhaps sums it up best. In her essay, she recalls her son reading the measure out loud from the sample ballot. His response? "Wow, that's lame."

Rockin' Gay Moments