One effort to put Washington’s new marriage-equality law up to a public vote in November has failed to garner enough signatures to qualify for a referendum.
Stephen Pidgeon, who is running for Attorney General in the Evergreen State, admitted yesterday that the Faith Coalition was more than 140,000 signatures short of the 241,153 needed to get Initiative 1192, which defined marriage as solely between one man and one woman, by Friday’s deadline.
“I hate to say it, but we’re just not going to cross the threshold,” Pidgeon told The News Tribune. “We’re not going to make it. This measure is not going to be on the ballot.”
It’s hardly time to pop open the champagne, though: Referendum 74, a separate initiative calling for voters to reject same-sex marriage, has qualified for the November 6 ballot.
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Taking the high road (snicker), Pidgeon blamed proponents of Referendum 74 for killing his initative. “I’m just going to say that the well was severely poisoned… We were killed by friendly fire. There were activists working with R-74 [sponsors] telling people to burn our petitions, to throw them in the trash, that they would be worthless—that it would be overturned by the Ninth Circuit [court].” Pidgeon—who runs DecaLogos International, a group that “advocates for God-given human rights as they are established by the Ten Commandments”—also blamed R-74 backers for his coalition’s paltry coffers: “It’s about fundraising, my friends,” he told reporters.
Please, keep up the infighting—it makes our work easier!
And speaking of fundraising, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and current CEO Steve Ballmer each donated $100,000 to boost efforts to keep Washington’s marriage-equality law intact. Maybe you have a few bucks to spare?
Colin
I feel voters should have the right to vote on this. It would be nice for WAY to be the first state to vote in favor of marriage equality, which is likely to happen.
Colin
*WA
1equalityUSA
Inalienable rights should not be voted on by fellow Americans. The Supreme Court of the United States needs to put an end to this discrimination once and for all. This issue will never go away. The law suits and fighting will never end.
Religious beliefs of others should not take liberties away from anyone. We should not be burdened by another’s beliefs, be it Sharia Law, Halakha, Hindu, Christianity’s Canon, or Mormonism’s cult practice. We must stand up to others forcing their religious beliefs upon us. “Who is next?” should be the question on everyones’ minds. One hundred and a half of Utah’s finest quit the cult this week, making news. Many more will leave these organized, politicized monsters that have shown poor leadership and worldliness.
A tax revolt is in order. We ought to all refuse to pay taxes until we are treated equally in this country. Taxation without representation is tyranny. Churches involved in politics need to pay taxes. I don’t want my tax dollars going to help fund haters that tangle with politics.
Avenger
@1equalityUSA: I laugh every time I hear gays say that they should refuse to pay taxes until they’re allowed to get married. Yeah, go ahead and not pay taxes and wind up in jail. It never fails to amuse me when grown people pout like children.
Dave
@Avenger: I laugh every time I see Internet trolls calling people children for suggesting to take a stand. While refusing taxes may not be the best suggestion and probably would result in jail time, it is a form of activism. Some people actually like to help cause change rather than sit back and hope other people do the work for him.
You can disagree with someone about their tactics but you don’t have to be a jerk about it.
Bipolar Bear
It infuriates me that there’s still “debate” on this, and having the population at large vote on one’s civil rights is unbelievably insulting, especially when referenda are not even considered for issues that actually affect the wellbeing of the entire population, like healthcare and economic policy: http://bipolarbear.co.nz/2012/05/06/there-should-be-no-debate-on-gay-marriage/
Murdoc
@Dave:This tactic is plain stupid, and will result in your being in jail-and then, what will have been accomplished? Nothing. There are better ways of fighting for freedom and protesting-this is not one of them that’s realistic or even credible.
Dave
@Murdoc: Any tactic that makes your message heard can be powerful. I agree there are much better ways to get your message out, preferably one that doesn’t result in jail time. But, if you get enough people doing the same thing…then the media picks up the story and your message is heard. Refusing to pay taxes is actually something that has been done throughout history and at times has been successful, though seldomly. I personally don’t think it is a good idea at all. But thinking of active things that can be done is how activism begins. Tossing glitter everywhere isn’t a very good idea either, but it got some attention.
My ultimate argument was how unnecessary it was to attack someone just because you have Internet anonymity.
brie
There’s much confusion about referendum 74. To be clear, whether we believe we should be voting on rights or not, Washingtonians *will be* voting on marriage equality this November. Because it’s a referendum on a law the legislature passed this spring, we need to APPROVE R74 to make same-sex marriage legal in our state. I think we can do it, but it will take a lot of effort and $$$. Please give time or money – or both – to the campaign at WashingtonUnitedForMarriage.org!