CA Bid To "Protect" Marriage Comes Up Short

Some gay marriage opponents in California are in full-scale retreat mode after failing to gain the requisite number of signatures to qualify a constitutional amendment banning gay marriages for the June ballot. Legal counsel for ProtectMarriage.com, the group attempting to qualify the initiative, said the failure was due to
... the difficulty of raising money in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina; the dimming prospect that the California Legislature will reconsider a bill legalizing gay marriage next year; and a lawsuit on the issue that is not expected to reach the state Supreme Court until late 2006.
Those reasons might have been compelling, if it weren't for the fact that they came up over 200,000 signatures short of the 500,000+ signature requirement. In other words: they're disorganized and limping.

Of course, their failure could also be the result of a fracture among anti-gay Californians. A grammatically-challenged and much more insidious splinter group called VoteYesMarriage.com is gearing up for its own signature drive for the November 2006 ballot. And, unlike the flat prohibition on gay marriages that the ProtectMarriage.com kids were pushing, this amendment goes after those dastardly domestic partnerships as well.
On July 11, the Legislative Analyst’s Office described the major points of the Voters’ Right to Protect Marriage Initiative as follows:
“Major Provisions: This measure amends the State Constitution to recognize marriage only between a man and a woman. In addition, the measure prohibits the Legislature, courts, and state and local government agencies from granting the rights of marriage to any unmarried persons. The measure also prohibits government agencies from requiring private entities to extend the rights of marriage to unmarried persons.”
Of course, lawyers for VoteYesMarriage are currently challenging the above legislative summary, which must be attached to all petitions when gatherers are collecting signatures, as being overly descriptive of what the initiative would actually do. Luckily, their proposed amendment would also prohibit the abolishment of marriage altogether, so those throngs of non-existent anti-straight marriage activists would have to go find something better to do with their time.

At any rate, the battle is far from over, but marital equality activists can take heart that at least one amendment has bitten the dust… for now.

web address: http://suicidegirls.com/news/politics/13522/CA-Bid-To-Protect-Marriage-Comes-Up-Short/