Tags : proposition 8
Gay Marriage Group Delays Fight Against Proposition 8
Washington, D.C. (AHN) – The decision of a top gay advocacy group to postpone its fight to repeal the ban on same-sex marriages in California until 2012 is opening up divisions in the LGBT community. Equality California on Wednesday said it won’t file a measure in next year’s state ballot because it will have more support from younger voters during the presidential election year, and that its “donors want a three-year education effort.”
“Changing the hearts and minds of Californians that do not currently support marriage for same-sex couples is slow-going but doable,” said EQCA Marriage Director Marc Solomon. “It takes commitment, time and significant numbers of volunteers to undo the lies the other side has been telling for decades and if we do this work at the level we need to we can have majority support by 2012.”
“Many of our key allies… feel that we need more time to build support without significantly damaging the important infrastructure our community has spent decades building and depends on,” he added. “Many of our community’s most generous donors want to ensure that their contributions to win back marriage are wisely invested to create the best opportunity to win… [they] have indicated support for a three-year education and political effort and are opposed to a 2010 campaign.”
Solomon said primarily older, unsupportive voters are expected to turn out in the gubernatorial election next year, while younger, more supportive voters will participate in 2012, giving them 4 percent additional support in the ballot.
The group, which led the unsuccessful campaign to overturn Proposition 8 last year, is actively seeking comments from supporters, a number of whom have expressed dismay in colorful language on the Equality California Website.
It will hold an online town hall on Thursday to discuss its announcement, which goes against the position of some gay advocacy groups.
The same day as EQCA disclosed its plan, the Courage Campaign said it had “smashed” its goal of raising $100,000 by Aug. 13. The group beat its deadline by two days, raising $135,998 that it said it would “immediately invest in research, polling and focus groups to repeal Prop 8.”
The fundraising began only last Wednesday, when Courage Campaign chairman Rick Jacobs issued an open letter to supporters.
“Frankly, too much attention has been placed on the political consequences of running an election in 2010 or 2012,” he wrote “The bottom line is that we must begin now to convince the people of California that civil marriage rights should be made available to all people, period. None of us should have to wait one more day to achieve equality at any level.
“And while I say that, I also don’t want to lose this critical battle,” Jacobs had said. “If we can make this community fundraising goal, we can move forward. 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. And we will have to wait until 2012 to bring marriage equality to the ballot again.”
ProtectMarriage.com, a coalition of California groups and religious leaders that support Proposition 8, made sure to emphasize the apparent disagreement between the two top gay rights groups.
“It is clear that [EQCA] do[es] not speak for a unified movement on their side of this debate,” executive director Ron Prentice. “The people have spoken twice on this issue, both times reaffirming traditional marriage. If asked to do so, they will indeed vote again to protect traditional marriage.”
“Based on ongoing conflict among the pro-homosexual marriage groups,” he added, “it is still unclear if or when this issue may appear before voters in California. But whether in 2010, 2012, or beyond, ProtectMarriage.com will be ready to defend marriage and emerge victorious again.”
Proposition 8 was passed on Nov. 4, 2008 overturning a California Supreme Court ruling in June the same year that gay couples had a constitutional right to be married, and amid broad opposition from civil rights and gay groups as well as officials including Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and state Attorney General Jerry Brown.
In May, the California Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected by a 6-1 vote a constitutional challenged to Proposition 8, an initiative banning same-sex marriages in the state. But the court also unanimously declared the 18,000 gay marriages conducted last year legal.
The ruling was a victory for social conservatives nationwide, as several states at the time were moving to legalize gay marriages.
A total of six states now allow same-sex marriages, four of which adopted their statutes in the past four months.
In addition, Massachusetts, the first state in the nation to legalize same-sex marriages, sued the federal government in July over the constitutionality of the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which provides the federal definition of marriage as the legal union between a man and a woman.
The District of Columbia has also began recognizing same-sex marriages performed in other states and countries.
Related posts:
- Proposition 8 passes: gay marriage to be outlawed in California
- Court hears Proposition 8 Appeal. Early signs not good for Gay Marriage
- A Day Before Polls Open, Maine Voters Divided About Repealing Gay Marriage Law
- Gay Marriage Opponents In Maine Submit Petition Seeking November Referendum
- Vermont Begins Issuing Marriage Licenses To Gay Couples
