Group Claims Near Required Signatures To Put Gay Marriage Ban On Calif. Ballot

Gay News From 365Gay.com

by 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff

Posted: April 1, 2008 - 5:00 pm ET

(San Francisco, California) The organization collecting signatures for a proposed amendment banning same-sex marriage in California says it is close to meeting the requirement.

Protect Marriage says it has collected 881,000 of the 1.1 million signatures needed. The deadline for turning in the petitions to county registrars is April 21.

Registrars are then required to take a random sample of signatures to verify. If that sampling shows at least 10 percent more valid signatures than required the petitions will be certified and the measure will be placed on the November ballot.

"The numbers are good, solid," Ron Prentice, a spokesperson for Protect Marriage told The Christian Examiner, a conservative Christian publication.

"We are well toward our goal. There are thousands more yet to be counted with a steady stream still coming in."

Among the major donors to Protect Marriage are a group of San Diego County businessmen. Developer Doug Manchester alone has contributed $125,000 prompting gays to urge a boycott of his properties. Manchester owns the Manchester Grand Hyatt and the San Diego Marriott Hotel and Marina.

Mission Valley developer Terry Caster has donated $162,500, Carlsbad car dealer Robert Hoehn gave $25,000, and La Jolla businessman Roger Benson has given $50,000, according to state records.

Equality for All, the group formed to fight the proposed amendment said the key to defeating the measure rests with the gay community to educate voters.

"We have thousands of volunteers across the state talking to Californians about the harm that this amendment will cause, and our campaign is significantly reducing the effectiveness of this paid signature gathering effort, but we need to keep it going,” said Oscar De La O, Executive Director of BIENESTAR, a Latino LGBT rights group which is part of Equality for All.

"This campaign will come down to the wire," said Kate Kendell, Executive Director of the National Center for Lesbian Rights.

"With the Supreme Court poised to rule on whether gay and lesbian couples can marry in California, there’s never been another moment quite like this one with so much hanging in the balance. We need everyone who cares about marriage, justice and LGBT equality to be out there now so we can avoid a ballot measure in November."

The National Center for Lesbian Rights was one of the groups arguing for same-sex marriage before the state high court. A ruling in the case could come at any time.

In addition, the California legislature passed bills to allow same-sex marriage in 2005 and 2007. Both times the legislation was vetoed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. (R)

If the amendment were to be approved by voters it would nullify a pro-gay-marriage ruling from the California Supreme Court and bind the hands of the legislature from passing another marriage bill.

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