I grew up in California, and when I read that Proposition 8 was on the ballot, I was disappointed because it seemed to be inconsistent with the spirit of the state, with the independence and diversity of the frontier that California has always been.

California has the highest per capita rate of incarceration of any state - or it did until Proposition 36.

I've been strongly opposed to racial discrimination and anything like that my whole life. Maybe it's thanks to my parents and where I grew up and that sort of thing, but particularly with gay and lesbian citizens, I've seen that people can be cruel, and it's very distressing.

I grew up in Oakland and Berkeley, California.

I'm a California girl. I grew up in Inglewood right by LAX.

I grew up with fantastic Southern food. In Southern California.