Repeal of CMA Fails to Make November Ballot

An effort to put a repeal of the California Marriage Amendment - voted in as Proposition 8 in 2008 - on this November’s ballot has failed. Maura Dolan has the Los Angeles Times coverage.

John Henning, who heads a group that sponsored the repeal effort, declined to say how many signatures had been gathered since the all-volunteer campaign got underway in late November. He said 694,000 valid signatures were required by Monday.

But they're going to try again.

He said his group, Love Honor Cherish, will work with other activists to put a repeal measure on the November 2012 ballot.

And that's exactly what other marriage neutering advocates have been advising all along, estimating that 2010 was too soon and the voter turnout in a midterm election would be less favorable to their cause. Of course, Prop 8 passed on the same ballot that voted for President Obama, so there is no assurance that 2012 would bring favorable results for the marriage neutering advocates. However, the federal court case is ongoing.

I do wonder if perhaps there just aren't that many passionate marriage neutering advocates around, and thus the signature gathering failed... or if it failed because a lot of people who have claimed to be desperate for the "right" to a state marriage license without a bride or without a groom were willing to put that "fundamental right" on hold at the direction of dominant advocacy group leaders? If it is the latter, then they can hardly point fingers at certain churchgoers for following their leadership.

Check out my namesake blog to see a detailed response to one of the comments left on the website. I put it over there because it doesn’t really fit in on The Opine Editorials.