Voters expected to support ban on homosexual marriage
Religion Today, March 2, 2000
California voters appear likely to approve a ballot initiative March 7 that would ban legal recognition of marriage between people of the same sex.
Fifty-five percent of voters favor the widely watched initiative, 38 percent oppose it, and 7 percent are undecided, a poll released this week shows. Those figures have remained consistent for several months, indicating that most voters have made up their minds and that California, which is more liberal than most states, is not willing to support gay marriage.
The initiative – called Proposition 22 or the Protection of Marriage Act – would preserve marriage in its traditional sense, as a union between a man and a woman. It would prevent California from recognizing gay unions performed in other states, meaning that a gay couple married in another state would not be recognized as married in California.
No other state allows homosexual marriages, but proponents argue that Vermont is close to such approval and that Proposition 22 is a necessary pre-emptive strike. Versions of Proposition 22 have been approved in 30 other states.
The initiative is a major issue in churches, where it has produced unusually high levels of involvement. Proponents say the measure protects the biblical institution of marriage, and also argue that, as a states rights issue, California should not let other states dictate what constitutes a legal marriage.
Proponents have planted bright blue signs on front lawns and street corners proclaiming: “Protect Marriage, Yes on Prop. 22.” Many of the signs have been distributed by churches to their members, the Los Angeles Times said.