10:15am |Riding on the coattails of this past weekend’s Pride festival, Equality California, an organization advocating for equal marriage rights for the LGBT community, will host a town-hall style meeting Monday night to discuss a potential new ballot measure that would allow same-sex couples to marry.
The meeting is set to run from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the Gay and Lesbian Community Center of Long Beach, more commonly referred to as “The Center,” 2017 E. Fourth St.
The organization is hosting a series of similar meetings statewide dubbed “Back to the Ballot?” to discuss whether the LGBT community should rally behind placing a new measure on the ballot in 2012 that would repeal Proposition 8, which voters approved three years ago to deny same-sex couples the right to wed.
Though a federal judge invalidated the measure, gay marriage opponents filed an appeal. The issue is . * currently on hold after the appellate court asked the state Supreme Court to rule whether Prop. 8 supporters have the right to appeal. Should it be found that they do have the right to appeal, it is speculated that the issue would end up before the U.S. Supreme Court.
According to a report on 89.3 KPCC, some gay marriage supporters worry that Prop. 8 would be upheld by the nation’s highest court and are pushing for gay rights activists take the fight back to the ballot box rather than fight for equal rights in the halls of justice.
Recent polls suggest that a majority of Californians would now back same-gender marriage.
The following is a description of the meeting found on Equality California’s website:
Should our community return to the ballot in 2012 to restore the freedom to marry and overturn Prop. 8? Delays in the federal case against Prop. 8 have sparked conversations about whether we should wait for the courts to restore the freedom to marry or whether we should seek to overturn Prop. 8 through a ballot measure in November 2012.
Come and be a part of the conversation! Equality California is holding a series of town halls across California and online for members of the community to come together and discuss the wisdom of moving forward with a ballot initiative. After getting the input of LGBT people and our friends and allies, Equality California will conduct polling to determine the likelihood of a measure passing, as well as speaking with coalition partners and providing other opportunities for input.
No decisions have been made yet about whether to pursue a ballot measure. Please, join us and share your perspective. Help shape the decision.