Gay Marriage Ban Qualifies For California Ballot
By Nicole Belle Monday Jun 02, 2008 3:10pmYou had to know it was coming....
An initiative that would again outlaw gay marriage in California has qualified for the November ballot, the Secretary of State announced Monday.
California Secretary of State Debra Bowen said a random check of signatures submitted by the measure's sponsors showed that they had gathered enough names for it to be put to voters.
The measure, known as the California Marriage Protection Act, would amend the state constitution to "provide that only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California."
If approved by a majority of voters on Nov. 4, the amendment would overturn the recent California Supreme Court ruling that legalized same-sex marriage in the state. It is similar to gay marriage bans that have been adopted in 26 other states.
"This signifies the fact that California voters really do favor and will come out to vote for the protection of historic marriage," said Ron Prentice, executive director of ProtectMarriage.com, a coalition of religious and social conservative groups behind the initiative.
In response to the Supreme Court's May 15 ruling, California public health officials already have amended marriage license applications to read "Party A" and "Party B" instead of bride and groom. Local officials have been told to start issuing the revised licenses to same-sex couples on June 17.
Gay men and lesbians would still be able to get married between then and the election, even with the initiative pending, unless the court agrees to stay its decision until after Nov. 4, as the amendment's sponsors have requested.
Equality for All is fighting the initiative. A recent Field poll shows that the majority backs gay marriage, while an LA Times poll shows more support for the ban. Clearly, it is a contentious issue and you can count on the Republicans playing it up to encourage the social/religious conservative voter turnout.
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It's sad to see people filled with so much hatred based on their delusions about an imaginary friend named jeebus and an ancient, poorly translated book of fairy tales.
I wish I could vote in CA.
*
Gays don't deserve equal rights.
Neither do women.
Nor minorities.
As the song says:
Put a rider on that amendment that bans divorce among heterosexuals.
Getting real tired of this artificial issue.
Scotty beatin' the crap outta the White House.
Dick Cheney insults W. Virginia.
Retired Generals beating the crap out of "W".
John McCain turning his foreign policy positions into one gigantic senior moment.
Democrats uniting.
Obama on the offensive.
It must be time for our favorite GOP wingnut family game..."Bash the Homos".
Bob:
How about gay, black, handicapped, poor women from Mexico ?
Leave it up to the homophobic Reslugs in California.
Bob @ 3:
Dude, that was a hell of a flame throw. Do you work out?
Anyway, back to sanity. What the hell are people afraid is going to happen if gay marriage or unions are legal? I cannot figure it out. Do they think they are the only ones who should be happy?
Get the freaking government out of my bedroom.
"Clearly, it is a contentious issue and you can count on the Republicans playing it up to encourage the social/religious conservative voter turnout."
Let's keep the real issues in the forefront. Be sure to write and keep the pressure on "news" entities that focus on divisive issues for the sake of stirring the pot and remind them of the many other concerns of the majority of Americans. I think equality is a fundamental issue, and it will be well-served by a Democratic president, house, senate and judiciary. Am I dreaming big, here? Eye on the prize? You betcha. FOCUS, PEOPLE! FOCUS!
Bob @ 3:
Is "Bob" your name is that what you do in men's airport bathrooms ?
Bob @ 3:
You left old, doughy, christian white men out.
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"Protecting" marriage by banning it? Only in reich-wing world.....
Alice Hussein @ 9:
I watch CSPAN during sex.
I'm just sayin'
“This signifies the fact that California voters really do favor and will come out to vote for the protection of historic marriage,” said Ron Prentice, executive director of ProtectMarriage.com, a coalition of religious and social conservative groups behind the initiative.
He must mean when women were chattel, marriages were arranged and no mixing of races.
pissed off patricia @ 8:
Change terrifies them. They are the biggest hot-air balloons on the planet - but when it comes down to it - they are the biggest cry-baby, wet-their-pants cowards there are.
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I like jesse venturs take on it that went something like this,
why are states involved in marriage. States should just provide legal agreements between people and call it a civil union. then the church of your choice or not and you can call your union what ever they like and give it what ever religious meaning you and they decide
*looks at watch*
yup, about the perfect time for this to come up again.
the GOP must be pinching themselves.
forget iraq, the econ, torture, climate change, etc. the GOP, with the media's assistance, will, AGAIN, catapult this issue to the top.
yeah, mccain's people couldn't have gotten a better time nor issue for them to run on.
Chico Hussein @ 11:
Same-sex marriage and abortion only become reich-wing hot button issues around election time.
pissed off patricia @ 8:
Well, we know what the republicans are afraid of -- they wouldn't have the gay-hate vote to dredge up from the sewer, every four years.
I think this Genie's just about out of the bottle now. They're terrified.
*
Alice Hussein @ 9:
Muuuust fight....urge...to write...snarky.....commm...mmment.
; 0 )
conservatoire @ 19:
Uhhh....satire, folks? (now in the correct spot, sorry.)
Contracts are contracts. We are all the same, and we all have equal access to the benefits of contracts.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Alice Hussein @ 9:
Agreed, but that invokes imagery of sex behavior. I think this should be about civil rights, not what's going on in private. Talk of bedroom behavior in this context just excites the wrong element.
Bob @ 3:
You forgot non-land owners.
Reich-wingers, if your gay neighbors on one-side of your house gets married and your neighbors on the other side of your house has an abortion, how will it effect your life, livelihood, family, or paycheck in any way?
Chico Hussein @ 14:
I don't. I can't see the tv!!!
Blue Lensman @ 27:
And pizza delivery men.
I can't remember who said it, but he said, of course he supported gay marriage. He said that gay people have just as much right to be miserable as straight people.
Trittydi @ 22:
Not the analogy I would have used...but it works.
Can we pass a constitutional amendment banning men with Alzheimer's from running for President?
Jon @ 1:
Absolutely!! Religion and the asswipes that try to force it on the rational make me sick. They need to go worship jeebus of whatever in their closets.
Screw religion and the religious!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Bob @ 3:
Evilgelicals neither.
I better update my voter registration to help vote this down. Unbelievable when it comes to ignorance and mindless fear. I'm beginning to really detest people in general. People would deny others basic rights because they don't want to understand. I admit I don't completely understand myself. But I understand enough they have just as much rights as I have and should be protected. I thought we were making little progress when state supreme court overturned the ban. UGH!!!
If gay people didn't want to get married and if no woman wanted to have an abortion, how the hell could the republican party continue to function?
They should make it a two-parter, to also invalidate mixed-race marriages. That was illegal for the longest time. Also, the vote should allow women to be property again. They miss that.
conservatoire @ 24:
Yeah, I see satire in that post as well.
Regarding the topic:
Congrats, GOP slimeballs, you got your annual "Yeehaw! Git Out Th' Vote! Bang bang!" ballot measure. You can't find good candidates, you can't argue the issues without looking like foaming madmen, but tarrrrrnation of you can't rally your base with hate-filled, red-herring, craptacular ballot measures!
I'd feel sorry for you if I thought there was any hope for you bunch of goons. But you like it this way, don't you?
Looks like McCain has his wedge issue in California in the hopes of perhaps taking votes away from Democrats.
It won't work.
Dr. Hussein Matt @ 28:
you see, the simple truth about whats wrong with gay marriage is... umm
...
pissed off patricia @ 37:
Flag pins, pant suits, bowling scores, and former pastors.
really let it go for god sakes.. who the f cares who marries who. stop the the madness in iraq plz
Shet, and, I was buying a new wardrobe and sprucing up in hopes of finding a husband in time for the holidays.
medlakeguy @ 41:
I blame my parents' 25 year old divorce on gay marriage, which is still not legal in most states.
Damn teh gays! Damn teh gays all t' heck!
[sob] Mommy! Daddy! It wasn't your fault!!
Don't bet too much on Californians doing the right thing. We've been going down the tubes since we voted anti-immigrant.
I'm still waiting for an answer on how gays getting married "threatens" hetro marriage.
I think that anyone who has a problem with gays/ gays getting married has their own sexual hangups. Look at all the self-loathing closet gays in the republican house & senate. It really doesn't seem too healthy to be that repressed. Sad, really.
Bonkers @ 39:
Sorry:
"Initiative". Though I don't know, off-hand, what the difference is.
Create a ballot measure that does two things.
1. All Marriages must be not allow divorce.
2. All Marriages must produce children within 3 years, or the couple goes to jail.
That'll show those straight F-kers.
Wouldn't an amendment banning gay marriage be a violation of the separation of church & state clause in the Constitution? Is this too obvious, or am I too subtle by half?
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I just knew it.. I just knew this court decision wasn't the end of this gay marraige thing... I got all the sympathy in the world for the rights of gays to be as miserable as straight people in the 'holy' institution of matrimony if thats what they want... I'm glad the courts came down on their side... But I can't help feeling this certain way... I just wish they'd have waited till next year... I think they would have a better chance of getting what they are actually after with a dem in the wh without all this bullshit....
I'm sorry I feel that way, wish I didn't, but ya just know the RNC is going to use this as a club to scare the shit out of all the narrow minded bigoted troglodytes who are always reliable for being counted on to vote against their own best interests out of fear... And this phony sanctity of marriage 'can only' be between a man and woman is just the kind of shit that will chase them to the polls in november to screw themselves and the rest of us too... All because they just can't wrap their little pinheads around the idea that Adam and Steve deserve to have the same rights to misery as Adam and Eve enjoy...This is a fucked up world..................JD
Didn't California vote on gay marriage once before?
I thought they voted on the matter and decided to outlaw any marriage save for that between a man and a woman.
Is this supposed to be like in "It's a Wonderful Life"? In that story every time a bell rings an angel gets its wings. Only in this case, is it every time a gay couple gets married, a straight marriage comes apart?
baby jesus doesn't care who loves who,
baby jesus only likes to watch.
Litabell @ 47:
Maybe because teh gay couple will make more money than the hetero? Plus, of course, their house will be decorated better!
baby jesus @ 54:
My keyboard thanks you for the shower.
If gays can't marry, then they should pay less taxes.
If you get "reduced" rights, your should pay "reduced" cost to your government.
Fair is fair, and in the end like everything in this society... it must be boiled down to money.
Wouldn’t an amendment* banning gay marriage be a violation of the separation of church & state clause in the Constitution? Is this too obvious, or am I too subtle by half?
*What I meant was, wouldn't a law banning gay marriage be a violation of the separation of church & state clause in the Constitution? Is this too obvious, or am I too subtle by half?
I blame Dick Cheney's family history of inbreeding for my lack of precision.
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its a constitutional amendment....meaning that 2/3 of the voters must approve it....it wont pass
especially when sulu marries his long time partner
the trekkie vote is big here in california
medlakeguy @ 41:
Gay men should not have an abortion.
Left handed people should be outlawed. It is the natural order of things that all people are right handed. Look at all the tools of the world...even simple household things like scissors...even the computer mouse...all designed for right handed people. It was only the pressure of the politically correct that has forced the abomination of left handed products onto the rest of us.
I like the quote from Jesse Ventura,
"First of all," Ventura began, "I made a statement when I was Governor and I stand by it today: Love is bigger than government.,
"Who the hell are we as a government to tell people who you can fall in love with? I think it's absurd, the fact that it's even being debated."
Guess this proves that the South hasn't cornered the market on small-thinking, close-minded, redneck religious conservatives.
Do any of these "people" have jobs, hobbies or any kind of life???
What will the GOP do when this amendment loses? What if this causes more folks to come to the polls who favor legalizing gay marriage? Oh goodness, they may even favor the Dems on the ballot. Poor GOPers, they are still listening to that genius Karl Rove. You know the guy who led them to the 2006 slaughter and has lost them the last three contests in heavily favored GOP districts. So here's my message to GOPers everywhere.
PLEASE KEEP FOLLOWING KARL, at least until the first Tuesday of this November.
Chuck @ 62:
Jess speaks the truth...again.
Liberal AND Proud @ 61:
We already die more often in household accidents. So, don't think we don't know that you have it in for us!
The Truth Hurts @ 65:
Jesse and baby jesus are tops in my book.
On the bright side, laws that restrict the rights of others, usually don't last forever.
Jack Damage @ 51:
Makes you wonder if there weren't GOP operatives covertly pushing the right for gays to marry in the first place so that they could emerge a few months later with this Git-Out-Th'-Vote rallying cry, yeah?
Hey, it's not that crazy (well, THEY are. I mean, I am not that crazy for imagining that scenario).
uncle joe hussein mccarthy @ 59:
To my mind, anyone that would try to ban the cuteness that is George Takei and partner marrying finally is probably mentally unstable and likes to punch kittens in the face. Maybe even kick ducklings. Nobody with a heart would want to make George Takei sad :(
(I imagine there are many other couples in California just as adorable, but I don't know their names. Obviously, I don't want to make anyone sad)
Bonkers @ 69:
Helping, I should say. Obviously there are mostly good-minded folk work on this sort of thing, with full blessings by "libs" like me.
Civil rights issues should never be put to a popular vote. If banning slavery had been put to a popular vote, the Southern states would have voted against it. In spite of what these "wingnuts" say about "activist judges", it IS their job to interpret the constitution and render decisions which correct inequalities.
Nope, it only needs a majority, but it still might not pass. *fingers crossed*
If Senator Obama ever finally becomes the Dem nominee, there will be a lot of young people turning out to vote in Nov. A whole lot of these young people could give a damn about who marries who. This thing just might be defeated.
One marriage I do not want to see is the democratic ticket marriage of Senator Obama and Senator Clinton.
I wish some of these people on the right would take a simple course about the constitution and government. The United States government is only "majority rules" to a point, the constitution does not allow the majority to discriminate and treat the minority unfairly. Under our government, people are supposed to be equal. Being equal doesn't mean "Christian", it means we're all fuckin' human so leave people different than you alone.
To ban something don't you first have to prove its harm? So where is the proof of harm if my two gay friends get married?
uncle joe hussein mccarthy @ 59:
Is that a "fact"? That is, it will take 2/3rd to approve and not just a majority vote?
GOP moving from gays to illegal immigrants in ....5..4..3..
Liberal AND Proud @ 61:
Uhm....I have reason to believe my mouse is bisexual, as fits snugly in either hand. Perversion!...everywhere, perversion!
what heterosexual marriages are protected by banning gay marriage? the very premise makes no sense. the initiative should be thrown out for illogic alone.
Hillary wants VP spot
http://firedoglake.com/2008/06/03/hillary-wants-the-vp-slot/
The Truth Hurts @ 63:
this is the same state that has had raygun and ahnold as governors.
remember the police verdict after they beat rodney king. like him or not the verdict tell you all you need to know about the people of california. It's like Alabama west.
pissed off patricia @ 76:
they have hate and they believe that's all they need.
Bonkers@69;
No, Bonkers, you are not crazy in my opinion in imagining that
scenario.... Even if the majority of people helping the gay marraige cause are ligit in their intentions....
P.S. L&P@61; Comeon share bro, where can I get some of these evil lefthanded tools??? I got some big home improvement projects and I just can't seem to master the right handed tapemeasure at all...hehehe... I'm with Fanon on this one, we got our eyes on you righties so don't go tryin nuttin funny like killin us lefties off with an apple moth spray or somethin... heheheheh ...Just for the record...I'm talkin hands, not politics.... hehehehehh JD
Some crybaby Republican state attorneys general have begged the California state supreme court to suspend its ruling pending the outcome of the November election. They're hoping we California voters will bail them out from having to deal with same-sex marriage litigation. I say we should disappoint them and tell them to do their jobs.
While most press accounts leave out the names of the GOP attorneys general who pleaded with the California high court for a stay, I have all of them here (and a link to their letter). Expect great things from them in the future.
This is another NorCal vs SoCal issue....the conservatives in SoCal favour the ban, whilst the progressive/liberals in NorCal favour equal treatment.
It's gonna boil down to who can mobilise more voters on election day...If you californians believe in equal treatment under the Law, then i'll see you at the voting booth.
Nicole, what is needed is a constitutional ban on non-secular marriage.
Attack these bastards. They will never stop and they will never go away. They will continue until you live your life to their pleasure.
Attack them.
Doggiebobo @ 77:
Not true. It takes a simple majority vote to enact an initiative constitutional amendment in California. Initiatives that amend the state constitution have to pass a higher bar to get on the ballot (they require more signatures) than those initiatives that merely enact new statutes, but they do not need a supermajority at the ballot box.
justadood @ 86:
This is just one round of possibly an infinity of rounds. They will not stop until they destroy you. Honest. Its your existence that is the true problem. You are ungodly and unclean. You are wicked and evil. You frighten them.
BaBeAb@82;
Ahhh comeon... To be fair, its only the middle part of the state and maybe San Diego/Orange county that is 'that' insane... Us coasties? Mostly we have our brain screwed in and intact... And the far east side... Well, I think for the most part, they are survivalist get away from civilization types and anarchists will no real use for politics and politicians generally... As a personal note, I wasn't around for the Reagan reign of terror, was still an Ohio boy then. And I didn't vote for Ahh nold more recently... He's a putz as a governator.... But I'll give him this much.. He was O.K. as Conan the Barbarian... We'd all have been better off if he had stuck to that......JD
Trittydi @ 16:
If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen.
rain @ 91:
...and into the bedroom!!