A surge in anti-gay hate crimes has been reported in Santa Clara County for 2008, representing a three-fold increase over 2007. Both LGBT activists and the Assistant District Attorney for the county attribute the rise to the ubiquity of gay marriage news, and warring propaganda on both sides of the Prop 8 debate which occupied lawns, lampposts and headlines throughout the year.

As reported in the San Jose Mercury News, 56% of total hate crimes reported in the county were LGBT-related in 2008, up from only 15% in 2007--14 out of 25 total cases, up from 3 out of 20.