JURIST - Paper Chase: Signature gathering can commence for CA same-sex marriage ban

[JURIST] California Attorney General Bill Lockyer [official website] released a title and summary for the proposed California Marriage Amendment [text] Monday, opening the door for supporters of the document to begin gathering the hundreds of thousands of signatures needed to include the measure on the June 2006 ballot. Lockyer's analysis stresses that the proposal affects more than gay marriage, emphasized by his title change from the proposed "The Voters' Right to Protect Marriage Act," to "Marriage. Elimination of Domestic Partnership Rights." The summary says that the proposed amendment would not only "provide that only marriage between one man and one woman is valid or recognized in California," as supported by California voters five years ago, but also "voids and restricts registered domestic partner rights and obligations" with respect to adoption and hospital visitation, among other things. Randy Thomasson [profile] of the Campaign for Children and Families [advocacy website], former Assemblyman Larry Bowler and activist Ed Hernandez, the official sponsors of the bill, can ask a court to invalidate or amend the proposed summary if they feel it does not accurately represent their intent. VoteYesMarriage.com [advocacy website] has already announced its intent to challenge [PDF] what it called "Lockyer's biased title and summary." KTVU has more.

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