Effort intensifies for same-sex marriage ban

Matthew Yi, Chronicle Sacramento Bureau

Friday, April 25, 2008

The battle over same-sex marriage in California heated up Thursday, when supporters of an initiative to ban it in the state's Constitution submitted more than 1.1 million signatures in an effort to qualify the measure for the November ballot.

Representatives of a conservative coalition called Protect Marriage delivered boxes of signed petitions in each of the state's 58 counties. Opponents immediately pledged to wage what is expected to be a costly campaign to defeat the measure if it goes to voters.

In the next several weeks, county and state officials will make sure the signatures are valid. To qualify for the ballot, the measure needs at least 694,354 signatures, or 8 percent of the votes cast in the last governor's race. A spokeswoman for Secretary of State Debra Bowen said the verification process could last until the middle of June.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said two weeks ago that he would fight such an initiative, and the state Supreme Court is weighing whether to overturn or leave intact Proposition 22, an initiative approved by California voters in 2000 that barred recognition of same-sex marriage in the state. Justices are expected to rule in June.

Backers of the new measure, known as the Limit on Marriage initiative, say voters should have the final say in the matter.

"The California marriage amendment will allow the people of California, not politicians or courts, to decide the meaning of marriage and place that meaning inside the Constitution," Joseph Infranco, an attorney for Alliance Defense Fund, an Arizona group helping the initiative campaign, said as he delivered about 44,000 petitions to Sacramento County's registrar of voters office.

"While the Supreme Court can overturn statutes, they can't overturn constitutional amendments," Infranco said.

Critics of the initiative have called the measure hateful and divisive by narrowly defining marriage.

"The state Constitution was created to provide everyone equal rights, and what these extreme, right-wing groups are doing is to take away from entire groups of people protections under the Constitution," said Geoff Kors, executive director of Equality California, a gay rights group.

The measure by Protect Marriage, which is based in Sacramento, is one of two current initiative efforts to ban same-sex marriage in the state. A second campaign, by a group called Vote Yes Marriage, would ban same-sex marriage and repeal domestic partner benefits, but that effort might be stalled.

The measure needs the same number of signatures as the Limit on Marriage initiative, and the petitions must be turned in by June 30. But supporters of that measure haven't received any campaign donations in recent months, and the group has only $42,106 in its coffers, according to campaign filings with the secretary of state's office. A telephone call to the group was not returned Thursday.

Protect Marriage, on the other hand, received more than $1.6 million in campaign donations since January, with the largest chunk, almost $900,000, coming from the National Organization for Marriage, a nonprofit in Princeton, N.J.

Backers of the proposed measure also have garnered endorsements from conservative and religious groups around the nation, including Focus on the Family, Concerned Women for America and the Traditional Values Coalition.

If the initiative qualifies, campaigning will be fierce, opponents and supporters said Thursday.

"We have been working to prepare for this for several years, and if they do qualify, we will mount a vigorous and hard-fought campaign," Kors said.

Infranco said he expects both sides to spend "tens of millions" of dollars to sway voters.

Schwarzenegger jumped into the same-sex-marriage fray this month, when he told a group of gay Republicans in San Diego that he would fight against the initiative for a constitutional amendment if it qualifies for the ballot.

His comments surprised some Capitol observers because the governor has twice vetoed bills to legalize same-sex marriage in California. But Schwarzenegger spokesman Aaron McLear said the governor was honoring the will of the voters and enforcing the law under Prop. 22.

But if the Supreme Court overturns Prop. 22, the governor would support that decision as well, McLear said. The governor doesn't think the state Constitution should be amended on an issue such as the prohibition of same-sex marriage, McLear also said.