Right wing activists in Arkansas are no doubt pleased with themselves!

After receiving an extension on their bid to ban gay adoption, the Family Council Action Committee announced this week that they've gathered 24,000 new signatures, putting them well over the 61,794 quota, which they missed by 4,000 last month.

While that's good news for them, there's some trouble brewing in their bank account: the Committee raised $9,000 last month, bringing their total to almost $55,000. Too bad they've spent over $57,000.

And these are the people who think they know about responsible parenting…

Arkansas' social conservatives suffered a bit of blow this week.

The Family Council Action Committee confirmed that it fell about 4,000 signatures short of the 61,794 needed to put a gay adoption ban on this November's ballot.

Though they missed their deadline, they've been given a 30 day extension to meet their mark:

Over the next month, the group's strategy is to redeem the signatures disqualified because of the notaries and gather an additional 10,000 signatures, [Family Council Executive Director Jerry] Cox said. The group will turn again to large churches to gather many of the remaining signatures, he said.

One reason the group has had difficulty gathering the signatures is because the measure is more complicated to explain than the anti-gay marriage amendment it successfully petitioned to put on the ballot four years ago, Cox said.

The Family Council group submitted about 200,000 signatures for that proposal and voters overwhelmingly approved a constitutional amendment that defined marriage as only between a man and a woman.

Cox has said the group's adoption initiative this year aims to "blunt a homosexual agenda."

What he meant to say, of course, is "deprive abandoned children of happy, healthy homes."

Some anti-gay activists are having a hard time scrounging for cash. Arkansas-based Family Council Action Committee, which hopes to ban gay adoption, sent out an urgent call asking supporters for more money.

That dough, they say, will go toward getting professionals to meet July's 92,000 signature deadline, which will guarantee the measure a place on November's ballot.

The Committee remains optimistic, but they've definitely got their work cut out for them. Arkansas Families First, formed in reaction to the group, has gathered more contributions since February than the Committee has since last July. The latter counts about $22,000 for its exclusionary efforts, while Families First has $32,000 for their fight.

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The Arkansas Family Council got a green light to petition against gay adoption:

[State Attorney General Dustin] McDaniel approved the Family Council's proposed initiative to prohibit a minor from being placed with an adoptive or foster parent in Arkansas who is cohabiting with a sexual partner outside of a marriage recognized by the state.

McDaniel previously rejected a version of the Family Council's proposal, but the conservative group revised the wording of the measure to address McDaniel's concerns.

If approved by voters, the ban effectively would reinstate a state ban on foster-parenting by gays that the state Supreme Court struck down last year. The Family Council tried this year to get the Legislature to pass a bill to ban adoption or foster parenting by gays or unmarried couples, but the bill died in the House Judiciary Committee after passing the Senate.

The Family Council now has until next July 7th to collect a measly 62,000 signatures: approximately two percent of the state's population.

Arkansas gay adoption ban has hit a roadblock. Attorney General Dustin McDaniel says the voter-backed initiative doesn't meet certain "legal requirements" and, thus, he can't offer his John Hancock. The Arkansas Family Council, which has been lobbying against unmarried and their would-be children, must now redraft their proposal and sent it back:

I strongly suspect they will incorporate our changes and maybe a few of their own, resubmit it, and I'll ultimately certify it. But it did not meet the legal requirements to certify it right now.

Fuck that, McDaniel. Just send it back, give gays their babies and end procreational segregation. Your conscience will thank you.

It's a new day in Eureka Springs, Arkansas. The relatively liberal local government will begin domestic partner registry, a largely symbolic practice through which the government and local businesses recognize both heterosexual and same-sex relationships. Not surprisingly, there's been a bit of a protest.

One of the most vocal opponents, Reverend Philip Wilson, claims the move will turn the 2,350-strong town into a "homosexual mecca". In an effort to stop the registry, Wilson handed over a petition signed by at least 160 people. City officials, however, tossed it aside. A man of conviction, Wilson tried again. And, again, officials dismissed his discriminatory move.

Meanwhile, known homosexual Alvin Byrd and his lover Charlie Thomas welcomed the move. The boys, who have been together for nine years, plan on heading down to city hall this morning, plopping down the $35 fee and skipping into the future. Byrd remarked, "To me, it's just a wonderful day that we have our city government that's here recognizing us."

While Arkansas doesn't recognize same-sex marriages, the domestic registry recognizes and validates same-sex couples. It also offers them limited rights, particularly with regard to companies that recognize domestic partnerships.

Who knew Arkansas could be so cool?

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• Finally, a friend sent us the video for a German toilet commercial. Let's just say it makes us reconsider how, where and when we do our next line of blow. See for yourself, after the jump…

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