Free Republic

SAN FRANCISCO – One of the two groups competing to put a gay marriage ban before California voters in 2006 has bowed out of the fight for now, saying that it does not think the timing or political climate is right to get such a measure passed. Tuesday was the deadline for ProtectMarriage.com, the sponsor of one of the overlapping initiatives, to submit the signatures needed to qualify for the June primary ballot a constitutional amendment that would have outlawed same-sex marriage and restricted domestic partnership rights in the state. But Andrew Pugno, the group's legal adviser, said that after...

SAN FRANCISCO - Despite a tradition of promoting gay rights, California has long had a conflicted approach to same-sex marriage and it's one that is expected to become even more pronounced in the months ahead thanks to a pair of overlapping voter initiatives. Fearing that courts ultimately will support the rights of gays to marry, opponents want to place before voters an initiative to amend the state Constitution so only heterosexual unions would be valid. But in typical California fashion, the initiative drive for 2006 already has grown contentious and confusing.A rare rift among conservatives has led competing groups to...

Measure to ban gay marriage released Sponsors tiff with attorney general over amendment's wording California's attorney general on Monday released a summary of a proposed constitutional amendment that highlights how the measure would strip same-sex couples of most domestic partner rights while also banning gay marriage. The preparation of an official circulating title and language for the amendment means opponents of same-sex marriage may now begin gathering the 598,105 signatures they need to qualify the measure for the June 2006 ballot. But the amendment's official sponsors Randy Thomasson of the Campaign for Children and Families, former Assemblyman Larry Bowler and...