Gay marriage foes get approval to start gathering signatures
Elizabeth Bishop, KXTV Sacramento
November 17, 2005

Sacramento -- Three proposed propositions aiming to eliminate domestic partner rights will begin circulating for petition signatures, according to Secretary of State Bruce McPherson.

The three measures would amend the state constitution to recognize only marriages between a man and a woman and to strip domestic partners of civil rights as they pertain to child custody, health care decisions, community property, and insurance and death benefits, among other things.

Two of the initiatives are supported by former Republican Assemblyman Larry Bowler, and activists Ed Hernandez and Randy Thomasson. They are both entitled "Marriage. Elimination of Domestic Partnership Rights." A nearly identical initiative with was submitted to Attorney General Bill Lockyer earlier this year under the working title "The Voters' Right to Protect Marriage Act." In his analysis, Lockyer said the title was misleading and suggested its current name.

The third initiative is backed by Gail J. Knight, the widow of the late state Sen. Pete Knight; Natalie R. Williams; Mark A. Jansson; and Philip W. Kell. It is entitled "Invalidation of Domestic Partnerships. Marriage."

Former Gov. Gray Davis signed the law creating domestic partnerships in 2003 and it took effect on January 1 of this year. Under the law, same-sex couples who live together and opposite-sex couples who are 62 or older can register with the state as domestic partners. Registration gives domestic partners virtually the same rights and responsibilities as married couples in California.

The Campaign for California Families and the late Sen. Pete Knight originally challenged the law, saying it undermines Proposition 22, the initiative voters passed in 2000 that defined marriage as between a man and a woman.

The 3rd District Court of Appeal in Sacramento ruled Proposition 22's language is clearly limited to "marriage," and in June, the state Supreme Court upheld that ruling.

Since then, Thomasson and others who oppose same-sex marriage have been putting together initiatives to amend the constitution to strictly define marriage as a union between a man and a woman and to eliminate domestic partnerships, which they say is "marriage by another name."

In order to make the November 2006 general election ballot, each proposition must collect 598,105 valid signatures by April 13, 2006.