Initiative 74 news

[eridani]

Marriage equality groups are acting on the assumption that it will qualify. It will be necessary to have a solid educational campaign so that supporters of marriage equality will know to vote YES to keep the law passed by the legislature.

Donate and sign up to volunteer
http://www.equalrightswashington.org/

http://pamshouseblend.firedoglake.com/2012/05/24/preserve-marriage-washington-misses-own-referendum-74-signature-goal/

It’s been apparent from the outset that Referendum 74 will qualify for the November ballot. After all, very few referendum campaigns don’t collect the required 120,577 voter signatures since it is such a low percentage of the total registered voters in the state. Once on the ballot, R-74 will ask voters to approve or reject Washington’s recently-passed civil marriage equality law.

So the question isn’t whether the measure will qualify, but how its support stacks up to other ballot measures. Not very well, it would seem. This despite having hired paid signature gatherers up to four weeks ago and getting an assist from shady “on spec” collectors.

<snip>

It’s now weeks later and not only has NOM-PMW failed to meet their goal of filing 200,000 signatures on May 6th, but it appears unlikely that they will even have 200,000 signatures to file by the June 6th deadline. If NOM-PMW had any kind of meaningful support in Washington, they should have had no problem accomplishing this fall-back goal.

Once again, the national anti-gay groups will learn that Washington doesn’t have much interest in their attempts to overturn our laws.

[TriMera]

1. It's my understanding that in order to keep the legality

of marriage equality, we may have a double battle on our hands. There may also be an Initiative 1192 on the ballot, which serves to confuse the issue. I-1192 would change the definition of marriage in the Washington State Constitution to read "between one man and one woman". So, if both Ref. 74 and I-1192 reach the ballot, anyone who wishes to have marriage equality in Washington will have to vote Yes on R-74 and No on I-1192.

Leave it to our opposition to confuse the issue as much as is humanly possible. On a personal note: if the knuckle draggers fail to get either the referendum or the initiative on the ballot, I'm getting married on June 10th.

[countryjake]

2. Evidently, the NOMers are claiming that I-1192 campaign has "hurt" them...

according to the article in today's paper, but it does look like their R-74 signature collecting is gaining steam. I can't believe that just yesterday I was hoping that because there hadn't been any recent news, that could mean the asshats were failing in their "effort". The last I'd heard (about two weeks ago), there was a report that Preserve Marriage Washington was considering hiring people to go out and spread around petitions and that they only had gathered little more than half of the minimum number of required signatures. So I get today's Times and there's the "news", right on the front page:

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2018282329_gaymarriage25m.html

Opponents of gay-marriage law get unexpected aid: from Muslims

By Lornet Turnbull Seattle Times staff reporter

With less than two weeks to go, organizers of the Referendum 74 campaign to roll back the state's same-sex-marriage law say they have surpassed the minimum number of signatures needed to qualify for the November ballot — with thousands more rolling in each day.

Some of that support is coming in from an unexpected place: Muslims, who as a community have traditionally remained silent on the question of gay marriage.

In recent weeks, several area mosques have requested thousands of Ref. 74 petitions to circulate among their members, and through November, Muslims plan to campaign alongside religious conservatives seeking to overturn the law.

On Wednesday, Preserve Marriage Washington, which is seeking to repeal the gay-marriage law with backing from the National Organization for Marriage, was reporting 127,211 signatures — 6,634 names more than the minimum required to qualify for the ballot. Organizers need to get — and the Secretary of State encourages — at least 150,000 signatures to ensure a sufficient number of them are from qualified registered voters.

As disheartening as this seems, it'll be extremely important to make sure we all do our best to get out the word on how confusing those ballots might appear to people who absolutely do support marriage equality...like you've stated, Yes on R-74 and No on I-1192!

(and I've still got my hopes up that validating signatures may snarl things for them and we'll all wake to a glorious new day in Washington on June 7th...and we'll be able to heap congratulations on you by June 10th!)

[TriMera]

3. Thank you for the info, countryjake.

Here's hoping that they are either lying to the press or, as you said, they get snarled in the validation process.

[eridani]

5. March in the Seattle Pride Parade with Mormons for Marriage Equality

Dear Washington Democratic Leaders,

I have a special request for those of you who may be LDS (Mormon), as am I, or of a Mormon background, please consider marching in the Seattle Pride Parade on June 24, 2012 in support of marriage equality. The links to the facebook page for Washington Mormons for Marriage Equality and the facebook event page for the March in the Seattle Pride Parade are at the end of this post. While I am an ardent supporter of free speech for all, including any individual's right to criticize religions including my own, I would encourage any reader inclined to do so to divert that energy into reaching out with a pleasant conversation online, via telephone or face to face with your Mormon friends and acquaintances about why you support marriage equality in Washington State and nationally. You will be pleasantly surprised to find that there are a growing number of Mormons (on both sides of the aisle who support equality) and for those who are unsure (evolving) or opposed this will be an opportunity for you to change hearts. Please share the information about Washington Mormons for Marriage Equality with your Mormon friends who may not be aware that this group has been formed and the opportunity to show our love and support of our gay family, friends and neighbors in the movement for full civil rights. Not to take anything away from yesterday's historic Salt Lake City Pride Parade where three hundred plus straight Mormons from the group "Mormons Building Bridges" marched at the head of the parade behind Dustin Lance Black, but in Seattle our group will be marching behind a banner reading "Mormons for Marriage Equality."

Links:

Washington Mormons for Marriage Equality https://www.facebook.com/events/353384028062553/#!/groups/wamo4ma/

Washington Mormons for Marriage Equality information on Marching in the Seattle Pride Parade
https://www.facebook.com/events/353384028062553/#!/events/353384028062553/

For Press Contacts or more information please contact Sara Long or Scott Holley who are the organizers of this group @ [e-mail] . Please do not contact me as I am not a spokesperson for this group. I will be at the parade to march and hope to see some of you there.

Theresa Petrey
Chair Kittitas County Democratic Central Committee
Interim Chair Agricultural and Rural Issues Caucus
State Committeewoman, 13th Legislative District

Theresa Petrey
Attorney