In what is being described as perhaps the "narrowest margin ever for qualifying for the ballot, the Washington State Secretary of State's office announced Aug. 31 that opponents of gay relationships in that state collected enough valid signatures to secure a ballot measure this November. The measure, which will be known as Referendum 71 or R-71, seeks to overturn Washington's domestic partnership law, which provides same-sex couples with "everything but marriage."
The news comes as same-sex couples became eligible to marry Sept. 1 in Vermont. The legislature there overrode a gubernatorial veto in the spring to enact an equal marriage law there beginning Sept. 1. Early reports suggest only a relatively small number of couples applied for licenses, which they could do beginning in July, perhaps because many could obtain marriage licenses in one of several others states that provide for equal marriage licensing.
And meanwhile, Maine's secretary of state is expected to announce in the next few days that a ballot measure seeking to overturn that state's newly minted equal marriage law has been certified for the ballot there this November.
Washington: Referendum 71
While the Washington Secretary of State's office has validated enough signatures to enable an anti-gay ballot measure there in November, the office has not yet officially certified the measure for the ballot.
Washington Families Standing Together, a group seeking to preserve the domestic partnership law, filed a lawsuit Aug. 27 challenging the Secretary of State's signature validation process. The lawsuit asked a state court to stop the Secretary from certifying the petitions, contending that the Secretary accepted some petitions that do not meet state requirements. A King County judge refused Sept. 2 to interefere with certification of the ballot measure, and the Secretary of State then certified Referendum 71.
The group seeking to overturn the domestic partnership law, Protect Marriage Washington, also filed a lawsuit—in federal court—seeking to seal the petitions from public scrutiny. The group claims that pro-gay activists will harass voters who signed the petitions. The state Public Disclosure Commission has already rejected the group's request to conceal the signatures and a federal judge issued a temporary order stopping release of the signatures, pending a final decision.
The Washington secretary of state's Web site has been making daily reports about the count process and the lawsuits during the past month as election officials examined each of 137,689 signatures turned in by Protect Marriage Washington." The group needed 120,577 to qualify for the ballot. Early indications suggested the rejection rate of signatures might be high enough to prevent the group from reaching the requisite number. According to the Web site, the rejection rate on petitions has been about 18.5 percent historically, but Protect Marriage handed in a much smaller number of signatures, meaning it had to reach a rejection rate that was under 12.4 percent to qualify. In the end, its signature rejection rate was 11.8 percent.
And then there's Maine
Having enough signatures has not been in question in Maine. There, a coalition of groups called "Stand for Marriage Maine" turned in more than twice the 55,000 signatures they needed.
Betsy Smith of Equality Maine said bluntly weeks ago that certification for the ballot was a foregone conclusion.
"Even if they throw out tens of thousands of names, they are still going to qualify," said Smith.
Nevertheless, the secretary of state is expected to announce that a measure to repeal the state's newly passed marriage-equality law has been certified for November's ballot. That puts the law, which was set to go into effect this month, on hold.
The battle against same-sex marriage licensing in Maine is being led by anti-gay newcomer Bob Emrich, pastor of an independent Baptist Church in Plymouth, Maine—population 1,257, according to the 2000 census. Emrich is also director of a group he calls the Maine Jeremiah Project, a 501 ( c ) ( 3 ) named after a passage from the Old Testament book of Jeremiah that urges exiles to pray for "peace and prosperity" in their own city because if the city prospers, "you too will prosper." According to his Web site, these words call on him to focus on "public policy and contemporary culture."
He's part of a coalition called Stand for Marriage that includes his group and 10 others. Marc Mutty, director of public affairs for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland, Maine, is chairman of the coalition group, that includes the diocese, several Catholic fellowship groups and several national conservative organizations. Among the latter is the National Organization for Marriage, the Eagle Forum, Concerned Women of America and Family Watch International.
Since forming its campaign committee in June, the Stand for Marriage Maine coalition has taken in $343,690 in contributions—99.7 percent of which has come from only three entities: the National Organization for Marriage ( $160,000 ) ; the Portland diocese and affiliated groups ( $152,000 ) ; and the state chapter of Focus on the Family ( $31,000 ) .
This unusual concentration of funding—only a few hundred dollars coming from individual donors—set off the bells and whistles for one pro-gay California activist. Fred Karger, founder of Californians Against Hate, contacted the Maine Commission on Governmental Ethics and Elections Practices. He suggested it could be a sign that the organizations are "trying to hide the true identities of those contributing to the campaign," which could run afoul of state election funding laws.
Jonathan Wayne, head of the commission, said a ballot question committee, like a political action committee, must accurately report the source of its contributions. He said his commission has asked Karger to "reformulate his request" to provide more specific information before it proceeds. The commission has also given Stand for Marriage an opportunity to respond to Karger's concerns.
Meanwhile, the key group working against the referendum—"No on 1: Protect Maine Equality"—has raised $143,290, of which only $35,000 has come from national groups ( $25,000 from the Human Rights Campaign and $10,000 from the ACLU ) . Equality Maine, another group working to defend the equal-marriage law, has raised $63,561—of which $20,000 came from a national group, the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force.
California, here we come—but when?
Meanwhile, two factions within the pro-gay community in California continue to wrestle over whether to seek a ballot measure to reverse Proposition 8 in 2010 or 2012.
Leaders of the primary group fighting Prop 8 announced August 12 that they would shift their planned ballot battle to overturn the amendment from 2010 to 2012. According to Equality California, recent polls have shown little change in public opinion since November, when 52 percent approved Prop 8. In fact, polls have moved very little in the past four years, said the group.
"The buyers' remorse we had all heard about anecdotally following the Prop 8 vote is not borne out by the numbers," according to a report prepared by Equality California. Support for equal marriage rights has hovered between 46 percent and 47 percent since 2005, notes the report.
"Some consultants suggest that it is risky to return to the ballot without 60 percent support, or at least without a 10 percent differential between support and opposition," the report states. ( The full 31-page report can be read at www.eqca.org . ) The report even goes so far as to note that, in 2012, it could pick up 2 percentage points just by virtue of the fact that more senior citizens—who tend to oppose same-sex marriage—will have died and more young people—who tend to support same-sex marriage—will have joined the voter rolls.
And leaders of communities of color, said the group, believe it will take more than 15 months to convince substantial numbers in their communities to vote against Prop 8. LGBT groups working within communities of color released a "Prepare to Prevail" statement themselves, warning that the LGBT community must develop a greater familiarity with the culture and language of communities of color to "effectively communicate the impact of marriage equality on their children."
"Most of all," said Prepare to Prevail, "it requires time to build trust and relationships in targeted communities in order to succeed."
And the economy, according to the group, has diminished the prospects of raising the money—$80 million in 2008—it takes to fight Prop 8. After talking to the top 100 big-dollar contributors to last year's campaign, Equality California found that "the vast majority" would not contribute in 2010. The reasons: no change in the polls, big personal financial losses due to the economy and a "crisis in funding" demands from LGBT social-service organizations.
But there are gay-rights activists organized and gathering signatures for a 2010 ballot effort. Key among those still considering a 2010 repeal effort is the newly formed Courage Campaign, which says its affiliates include MoveOn.org, Democracy for America and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference of Greater Los Angeles. In a statement released Aug. 5, Courage Campaign Chair Rick Jacobs said the group would try to raise $200,000 immediately to do polling prior to filing its application for the ballot in September. He said the group would use the fundraising goal as a decision-maker: "If we can't make this community fundraising goal, then we will have to accept that the movement is not ready to produce the funding and resources necessary to support a campaign to repeal Prop 8 in 2010."
©2009 Keen News Service
