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Summarized by Kent Larsen
Same Sex Marriage Battle in California Heating Up
Associated Press 18Jan00 N1
By Bob Egelko: Associated Press Writer
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA -- As the March 7th vote on California's
Proposition 22, the so-called Knight Initiative which would prohibit the
state from recognizing same-sex marriages, both supporters and opponents
of the measure are ratcheting up their efforts.
The Salt Lake Tribune reports that the LDS Church's North America West
Area had a letter to members read in sacrament meeting last Sunday
urging members to support the initiative. Last year the Church urged
members to support the proposition with financial donations. Supporters
of the proposition have donated twice the amount raised by opponents of
the measure.
But opponents are not giving up. Lesbian rock star Melissa Etheridge
will perform at a benefit today (Friday, January 21st) in Beverly Hills,
California, expecting to raise $250,000 to oppose the measure.
Voters in the state seem disposed to pass the measure, according to
recent polls. The independent Field Poll showed the proposition leading
51 percent to 40 percent. It also indicates that support in rural and
suburban areas of California is being offset by opposition in the major
cities, San Francisco and Los Angeles. Mark DiCamillo of Field Poll
expects a close election and the University of California at Berkeley's
Bruce Cain, who directs the Institute for Governmental Studies there,
agrees, "It's pulling a significant amount of moderate Democrats," which
he says is the key to winning most California elections. But Cains says
that the measure could still lose "if it can be painted as extremist, if
there's enough money and if the campaign is run well enough."
Meanwhile, the same-sex marriage issue is being brought up in the 19
U.S. states that do not have laws like the Knight Initiative. Supporters
are gathering signatures in Colorado and Nevada for similar measures,
and The Beehive, a Las Vegas LDS publication, says that the LDS Church
is supporting and involved in the Nevada effort, which would define
marriage as between a man and a woman in an amendment to the state
constitution.
The newspaper says that veteran Nevada campaign worker Anna Peterson got
involved in the Nevada campaign, called the "Coalition for the
Protection of Marriage," at the request of Elder Marlin K. Jensen of the
First Presidency of the Seventy. Peterson is a board member of the
coalition. She is working on identifying contacts in each of the 30 LDS
stakes in Nevada, who will coordinate with liasons in each ward in the
state.
Mormon News has also received reports of LDS Church involvement in other
states to pass similar laws. While same sex marriage is currently not
legal in any state in the U.S., these laws try to keep each state from
recognizing such marriages performed elsewhere, containing any future
same-sex marriages to any state that may legalize them in the future.
This feared legalization may happen soon. In Vermont the state supreme
court recently ruled that same sex couples are entitled to the same
benefits as married couples and directed the state legislature to enact
legislation that would give same sex couples those benefits. While state
legislators seem disposed to allow 'domestic partnerships' with the same
benefits as marriages, an LDS Church representative testifying before
the state legislature recently called for an amendment to the state
constitution to overturn the state supreme court's decision.
But inspite of these efforts, the California effort will have a huge
impact, simply because of its size and the large, visible gay population
in its large cities. No-on-22 campaign manager Mike Marshall says this
makes its very important nationally, "An eighth of the country is being
asked to vote on an anti-gay initiative. If it passes, it sends a
profound message to policy-makers and young gays and lesbians who are
struggling with their sexual orientation."
The initiative, and the laws and constitutional amendments in 30 other
states, may not accomplish their intent in the end, however. The U.S.
Constitution requires that states give "full faith and credit" to the
laws of other states. This may mean that the anti-same-sex marriage
measures violate the U.S. Constitution.
See also:
Campaign initiative asks Nevadans to protect marriage
Beehive p 8 15Dec99 N1
By Ken Ward: Beehive Newspaper
Etheridge to Rock Against Same Sex Marriage Ban
Yahoo! News (Reuters) 20Jan00 N1
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20000120/re/politics_gay_2.html
By Jill Serjeant
Salt Lake Tribune 21Jan00 N1
http://www.sltrib.com/2000/jan/01212000/utah/19430.htm
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