We're angry that right-wing homophobes Randy Thomasson and Gail Knight each have been working to qualify similar antigay ballot measures for the June 2006 California primary. Both measures would ban permanently same-sex marriage in the state constitution and, even more dramatically, would strip away legal rights for registered domestic partners. They are terrible, terrible initiatives that -- in a one-two punch -- would wipe out achievements toward equality made by the LGBT community in recent years. While neither initiative has yet qualified for the ballot, we believe it's only a matter of time until the required signatures (about 600,000 for each) are submitted to the secretary of state's office.
We're not waiting until the initiatives have been approved for the ballot to take action - and neither should you. We need money -- and lots of it -- and field workers to mobilize voters.
Fortunately, Equality for All, the umbrella organization composed of LGBT community leaders and straight allies from across the state, recognized the urgency to organize early. Meetings have been held since the beginning of the year, all in an effort to develop a coherent strategy and to set up fundraising mechanisms. A top-notch campaign firm, Zimmerman & Markman, was hired recently and, as we report this week, campaign officials are already at work. One of the first opportunities for you to get involved is coming up on Tuesday, September 6, at a town hall meeting at the LGBT Community Center. We urge our readers to attend this important organizing meeting. There's an education component to this campaign - in order to win we must reach out to our straight allies so that they know what's at stake. While the majority of state residents are still against same-sex marriage, the fact that both of these initiatives would dismantle domestic partnership protections should give voters pause. Public opinion polls have shown that domestic partnership rights have broad support in California. The negative effects these initiatives would have on our community simply can't be overstated.
While some in the community may think this upcoming campaign is just more of the same (i.e., the losing effort in the fight against the Knight initiative in 2000), actually, the stakes are much higher: once enshrined in the constitution the absolute ban on gay marriage and the repeal of domestic partner rights will render future legislation useless. The current proposed initiatives require a fight like the one we put up against the homophobic Briggs initiative in 1978 that would have barred gays from working as teachers. We won that election, and as Equality California's Geoff Kors told us this week, that victory prevented Anita Bryant and her supporters from launching similar efforts in other states. "Anita Bryant came to California and was stopped," he said. "One problem that faced No on Knight was that people didn't see it as taking away anything. This is much more like Briggs - there would be real harm to real people" if the initiatives pass. "If we lose domestic partner rights, families lose rights."
The other problem with No on Knight was the campaign's mixed messages, such as when television ads said that a "no" vote did not mean a vote for gay marriage. Most voters didn't understand the distinction and were never presented with a clear case of why they should vote against it. The initiative was short (less than 20 words) and the antigay folks were able to exploit that simplicity.
That shouldn't happen this time. We've learned and we're better organized today.
Last month, we made a conscious decision to devote substantial space to reporting on the initiatives, which we expect will include many articles. We're also looking for registered domestic partners who want to share their stories of how their lives would be forever altered should these initiatives succeed. Interested people should e-mail [email protected].
Together, we can beat these hideous antigay initiatives that would put California's LGBT residents back in the closet.