R-71 Backers To SCOTUS: Violent Homosfascists Are Going To Beat Us Up

The bigots attempting to shield the names of the other bigots who signed the bigoted Referendum 71 petition in Washington state have written to the U.S. Supreme Court. Their message: "If you force the release of the names on the petitions, violent homosexuals will unleash their fury on us!"

Writing the high court Thursday, proponents of Referendum 71 -- which appeared on the ballot in an effort to overturn the state's "everything but marriage" domestic partnership law -- said petition signers' names should not be released. Doing so, they asserted, could see those who wanted the landmark gay rights law repealed subjected to harassment or violence. The move puts opponents of the gay rights law at odds with Washington Secretary of State Sam Reed and state Attorney General Rob McKenna. Both officials, the highest-ranking Republicans serving in state government, have held that state law requires the release of petitioners' names.

Beyond the immediate issue, the Supreme Court's decision will likely have far-reaching impacts on the state's initiative and referendum process, as well as open government laws governing the disclosure of campaign donors' names. Protect Marriage Washington sought to block the release of the names of the 138,000 people who signed petitions in hopes of overturning the same-sex domestic partner law. Gay rights groups have said they'll post the petition signers' names online, and some petition signers fear harassment or threats if their names are revealed.

Would there really be any sort of Prop 8-like backlash in Washington? After all, we won this one.