Anti-gay marriage referendum fails in Illinois

[terrya]

I thought I'd share a bit of good news I read today in the Chicago Free Press. This is the second time the homophobes have tried to put an anti-gay marriage amendment on the Illinois ballot. This time failed even worse than in 2006. It ain't going to happen here, bigots. Stop trying.

By Gary Barlow
Staff writer
Another effort to pass an anti-gay marriage referendum in Illinois failed May 5 when organizers didn’t meet the deadline for submitting petitions to put the question on the November election ballot.

The organizers had pledged to submit more than 300,000 signatures to put the question on the ballot. If they had, and a majority of voters had voted yes, Illinois legislators would have been pressured to pass a constitutional amendment banning marriage for gay and lesbian couples.

In 2006, anti-gay groups mounted a similar effort but managed to gain enough signatures to submit them to the Illinois Board of Elections. The question never made it past that stage, though. Gay groups such as Equality Illinois, Lambda Legal, PFLAG and the Gay Liberation Network, together with allied groups such as the ACLU, created FAIR Illinois to challenge the petitions, and election officials ruled that there were enough questionable signatures to disqualify the petitions.

This time, though, the anti-gay groups were even less well organized. Some of the heavy hitters who pushed the anti-gay drive in 2006 in an effort to boost right-wing turnout for political races weren’t around this time to support Protect Marriage Illinois, the anti-gay group that led the referendum effort this year.

http://www.chicagofreepress.com

[murielm99]

1. We had some bigot here collecting signatures

around town, both times. I couldn't believe that she also managed to get a newspaper article written about her little crusade. I e-mailed the reporter and told her she should have avoided giving publicity to the hateful minority.

I don't think the article is accurate about one thing. I am pretty sure it would have been an advisory referendum if it had gotten on the ballot. The legislature would not have been forced to do anything. And if they had tried to pass a Constitutional amendment, I am confident the effort would have failed.

[terrya]

2. It is a misnomer. My apologies.

It would have been an advisory referendum. The bigots tried the same thing in 2006. The advisory refendum didn't get on the ballot in 2006 because several GLBT organizations such as Equality Illinois and Lambda Legal Defense Fund scrutinzed the signatures of the petitions and found enough questionable signatures to deny the referendum.

Still...I'm firmly convinced there will never be an anti-gay marriage amendment in this state. Furthermore, although it is NOT same-sex marriage, I think the civil unions bill before the legislature, HB 1826, has an excellent chance at passage and being signed into law.

[xchrom]

3. recommend -- but doesn't illinos still have a doma? nt

[terrya]

4. Yes

That thing needs to be repealed.

[MNBrewer]

5. That IS good news

I think the anti-gay-marriage hysteria has peaked and is on the wane. We still have state DOMAs, state constitutional "defense of marriage" amendments, and the Federal DOMA to battle, but they'll fall, bit by bit.

[Q3JR4]

6. I agree.

The bigots have already lost, they just don't realize it yet.

Q3JR4.