Gay-rights coalition urges measured pace on same-sex marriage amendment
Organizations say pushing for a California ballot measure in 2010 would be 'rushed and risky.' Some also fear the effort may divert critical funding from social-service programs.By Jessica Garrison
July 14, 2009
Despite insisting just a few months ago that they wanted to go back to the ballot in 2010 to try to amend the state Constitution to allow same-sex marriage, many of the state's gay-rights groups now say that is too soon.
They worry about raising the millions of dollars needed to run a campaign and suggest that the job of changing enough voters' minds on same-sex marriage might take longer than 12 months.
"Going back to the ballot . . . in 2010 would be rushed and risky," read a joint statement issued Monday by three gay-rights groups and signed by more than two dozen other groups and individuals. "We should proceed with a costly, demanding, and high-stakes electoral campaign of this sort only when we are confident we can win."
Jim Key, spokesman for the L.A. Gay and Lesbian Center, also worried that a 2010 political campaign might tap the same donors that service organizations rely on to fund HIV care, services for homeless youths and other programs at a time when, because of the economy, those programs are needed the most.
Other gay leaders vociferously disagreed.
"There is a majority of the community . . . that favors going forward in 2010," said John Henning, executive director of the pro-same-sex-marriage group Love Honor Cherish. "The fact that some favor waiting should mean only one thing: They can wait, if they need to wait, but we are going to go ahead."
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-prop8-14-2009jul14,0,2739723.storyMy mantra continues to echo Martin Luther King Jr: "A right delayed is a right denied" ... however I'm open to strategists on our side -- who are smarter than myself -- to lead the way and make the right call for all of us.
I just want to make sure we're properly organized and prepared (as in a new and improved strategy) if we go ahead and try next year.