Prop 8 Ballot Repeal Campaign Dies

Love Honor Cherish has given up their campaign to place a repeal of Prop 8 on the November ballot. Via press release:

Although we have had success so far -- our wonderful volunteers, significant donor commitments, our campaign office, and support from numerous leaders and organizations around the state -- collecting the 807,615 valid signatures required will likely not happen by mid-April as required to qualify for the November 2012 ballot. We would need more than $1.5 million in donor commitments to hire a paid signature gathering firm to assist us in this massive effort. In view of the 9th Circuit victory and the narrowness of the ruling, making Supreme Court review less likely, raising the additional funds needed is now not realistic. And, as we have stated, we had no illusions that the initiative could qualify based solely on our statewide volunteer signature gathering effort.

Last year Equality California decided not to pursue a voter repeal of Prop 8 in 2012.

California LGBT Rights Group Approved To Gather Prop 8 Repeal Signatures

California LGBT rights group Love Honor Cherish has been approved to begin gathering signatures to place a repeal of Prop 8 on the 2012 ballot. They now have until May 14 to collect 807,615 voter signatures.

Love Honor Cherish submitted the proposed initiative in October after Equality California, the state's largest gay rights group, said it was not prepared to lead a campaign to overturn Proposition 8. In 2008, the measure's supporters and opponents spent $83 million campaigning for and against the amendment, making it the most expensive political race on a social issue in the nation's history.

A federal appeals court in San Francisco has been reviewing a lower court's decision from last year that struck down Proposition 8 as a violation of the civil rights of gay and lesbian Californians. Watson said that if the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upholds that ruling and lifts its injunction barring same-sex couples from marrying, the repeal initiative would no longer be needed.

But if neither the 9th Circuit nor the U.S. Supreme Court reinstate marriage rights for same-sex couples early next year and instead seek to keep the ban in place while the case works its way through the legal system, Love Honor Cherish would move forward with trying to qualify the repeal measure and campaign for its passage, Watson said. .

Prop 8 Repeal Fight May Go Forward

As Equality California is mired by internal turmoil and the loss of its second executive director in several months, another LGBT rights group says they are moving forward with plans to place a repeal of Proposition 8 on California's 2012 ballot. Rex Wockner reports:

Love Honor Cherish will submit language to the California attorney general by Friday for a ballot measure to overturn Prop 8. The attorney general will write a petition title and summary, and then LHC can collect voter signatures for 150 days. The group would need to collect valid signatures from 807,615 registered California voters. The initiative would amend the California Constitution to delete or overturn Prop 8, via which voters amended the Constitution in 2008 to re-ban same-sex marriage. The Los-Angeles-based organization's outreach director, Lester Aponte, said Oct. 11 that LHC already has launched efforts to build a statewide campaign structure.

Courage Campaign Pulls Out Of 2010 Proposition 8 Repeal Effort

The Courage Campaign today announced their withdrawal from the campaign to place a repeal of California's Proposition 8 on the 2010 ballot. Most major LGBT and progressive groups have opposed a 2010 effort, preferring to wait until 2012. Via press release:

"For months, we have laid out the criteria for moving forward. Like the Obama Campaign, we understand that we need a combination of powerful and clear research that informs an expertly run campaign, an unstoppable movement that harnesses the new energy we have seen since the passage of Prop. 8 and the connections through personal stories and outreach in order to win at the ballot box," said Rick Jacobs, the Courage Campaign founder and Chair. "We are taking the lessons learned from last year's Prop. 8 campaign, the campaigns in Maine and other states to understand the fundamental work that must be done before moving forward in California. We also must come together as a community to create a broad coalition and governance structure, put in place a strong manager and secure the resources to win. Right now, the pieces are not all in place to do so confidently."

The above excerpted press release also announces a partnership between the Courage Campaign and Lambda Legal. With the withdrawal of the Courage Campaign, that pretty much only leaves Love Honor Cherish working to get enough signatures to place a repeal on the 2010 ballot.

California Petition Drive Launched For 2010 Proposition 8 Repeal

Love Honor Cherish has launched an internet drive to gather one million petition signatures in California to place the repeal of Proposition 8 on the 2010 ballot.

The signature-gathering drive will use social networking tools such as Facebook and Twitter, organizers said in a statement. “We’re taking names,” said John Henning, who is heading the SignForEquality.com effort launched to collect the signatures. "People throughout California can now help us win marriage back by the simple act of signing and collecting signatures.” Prop. 8 was approved by California voters a year ago, reversing a California Supreme Court decision, which held that same-sex couples were guaranteed equal marriage rights under the state Constitution.

The group has until April 12th to gather the names. Visit their site here.

Prop 8 Repeal Coalition Submits Ballot Language For 2010

The coalition of California groups working for a repeal of Prop 8 in 2010 has filed the language to appear on the ballot, should their petition drive be successful.

“Starting today, there is new hope for committed gay and lesbian couples who want to get married,” said John Henning, Executive Director of Love Honor Cherish, a grassroots group that is spearheading the effort to place the measure on the 2010 ballot. “We’re back on the path toward full equality.” Love Honor Cherish is one of more than 40 groups that support repealing Prop 8 at the next general election in November 2010. The groups include Stonewall Democrats, the Latino Equality Alliance, the Mexican American Bar Association, and the San Diego Alliance for Marriage Equality, among others. For a full list, go to www.RepealProp8.com. Today’s filing is the first step in a process that will place the measure on the November 2010 ballot. In November, the broad coalition of groups supporting the initiative will begin circulating petitions to gather the 1 million signatures needed to qualify the initiative.

Here's what the proposed measure says:

This amendment would amend an existing section of the California Constitution. Existing language proposed to be deleted is printed in strikeout type. Language proposed to be added is printed in underlined type.

Section 1. To protect religious freedom, no court shall interpret this measure to require any priest, minister, pastor, rabbi, or other person authorized to perform marriages by any religious denomination, church, or other non-profit religious institution to perform any marriage in violation of his or her religious beliefs. The refusal to perform a marriage under this provision shall not be the basis for lawsuit or liability, and shall not affect the tax-exempt status of any religious denomination, church or other religious institution.

Section 2. To provide for fairness in the government’s issuance of marriage licenses, Section 7.5 of Article I of the California Constitution is hereby amended to read as follows: Sec. 7.5. Only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California. Marriage is between only two persons and shall not be restricted on the basis of race, color, creed, ancestry, national origin, sex, gender, sexual orientation, or religion.