Date: Tue, 02 Jul 1996 13:48:39 -0600 From: "John C. Hummel" Subject: *QL*: Idaho's anti-gay ballot initiative is dead On Monday, July 1st, the Idaho Citizens Alliance (ICA), sponsor of the only-remaining anti-gay ballot measure proposal in the country, withdrew their measure. The ICA's announcment came only five days before the July 5th deadline when they would have had to turn in over 41,000 verified signatures to the Idaho Secretary of State. As of June 28th, the ICA had only verified approximately 5,000 signatures statewide. The ICA used the pretext that the Idaho Attorney General had recently given them a written opinion that the anti-gay initiative was unconstitutional in light of the Romer decision. Nevertheless, the ICA had encountered numerous difficulties in gathering signatures for the anti-gay initiative, unlike the 1994 campaign when they easily met the signature requirements for qualifying Proposition One for the ballot. Thanks and praise should go to Idaho's Decline to Sign Campaign (formerly the No On 1 Coalition), the campaign organization that defeated the ICA's anti-gay Proposition One in 1994, and organized statewide opposition in 1995 and this year to the ICA's now defunct "Family & Child Protection Act." Decline to Sign successfully educated Idahoans about the divisiveness and discrimination inherent in the ICA's anti-gay measures, and used "counter-petitioning" tactics to discourage thousands of people from signing the ICA's petitions. I believe that with the withdrawal of the ICA's latest anti-gay measure, we have seen the last of anti-gay ballot measures nationwide, at least for several years. As we have seen with the anti-marriage bills, our opponents are now turning increasingly to state legislatures and Congress to push their extremist agenda. They are also turning to other "wedge" issues, such as anti-immigrant and anti-welfare hysteria, to fuel their movement and organizing. Thus, while we can all breath a huge sigh of relief that this saga in the fight against the Right may be over, there is still much work to be done. John Hummel Boise, Idaho ****************************************************************************** * To subscribe to QUEERLAW, send mail to: majordomo@abacus.oxy.edu * * In the mail message, enter ONLY the words: subscribe queerlaw * * To unsubscribe to QUEERLAW, send mail to: majordomo@abacus.oxy.edu * * In the mail message, enter ONLY the words: unsubscribe queerlaw * * Words in the Subject: line are NOT processed! * ******************************************************************************