Backers of marriage ban acknowledge impact of Equality for All efforts
to block discriminatory marriage measure
With just 18 days remaining to stop the “Limits on Marriage” initiative from qualifying for the November ballot, the Task Force Action Fund and Equality for All continue to ramp up statewide decline-to-sign efforts. Last week, the campaign turned out 648 volunteers to go toe to toe with paid signature-gatherers working to get the measure on the ballot; those volunteers have in turn convinced 11,305 people not to sign the initiative petitions.
If the measure gets on the ballot and passes, the California Constitution would be altered to forever ban same-sex couples from marrying. Measure proponents must secure just under 700,000 valid signatures by April 28 to qualify the initiative for the ballot.
The Task Force Action Fund is leading decline-to-sign efforts, and since the campaign launched over six weeks ago, more than 2,500 volunteers have participated in related activities and convinced 45,000-plus people not to sign the initiative petitions. This week we received the most definitive proof yet that our campaign is slowing down the signature-gathering drive: the other side has said so.
In an e-mail sent out to its supporters, Protectmarriage.com implored its base to gather additional signatures, saying, “We [protectmarriage.com] are facing a major obstacle that could derail our effort to protect marriage...Our opponents have launched a counterattack to disrupt the petition drive and keep the Marriage Amendment from qualifying for the ballot. Specifically, when our signature gatherers are spotted in public, ‘Rapid Response Teams’ of homosexual activists are immediately deployed to harass and intimidate voters against signing the petition! In fact, they have already brought in full-time, paid professional field operatives from around the country to help block signature gathering. This is slowing down our daily signature totals.”
Despite our impact, the opposition still has time, money, and people on its side. Over the past couple of days it has disseminated thousands of robo-calls across the state in a final push to boost its signature-gathering efforts.
Our greatest strength remains people power. If we can outnumber the paid signature-gatherers and convince a bigger pool of voters not to sign the petitions, we can keep it off the November ballot. But we still need a bigger volunteer team to do so. You can make the difference!
Photo: Equality for All volunteers are out every day in the field convincing voters not to sign the initiative petitions. Credit: Moof Mayeda
[ Get involved today in Equality for All ]
[ Learn more about our work in California ]
|
|
|
Commentary: Breaking new ground in Riverside
“Riverside, Calif., a dusty city east of Los Angeles, is a place that has provided me with the most challenging and rewarding organizing experience I’ve had in years.”
— Becca Ahuja, Task Force Senior Field Organizer
[ Read the full commentary ]
|
|
|
