Calif. Court Leaves Gay Marriage Ban on the Ballot

A voter initiative to ban gay marriage is staying on California’s ballot this November, the state’s supreme court ruled unanimously yesterday, setting the stage for a bitter November battle. Gay rights groups had argued that the proposition was an illegal constitutional revision, and that petitions for the initiative had been misleading. The vote is expected to be a close one.

“Californians do not want their Constitution to single out people to be treated differently,” said one gay rights group. “We are confident they will vote no.” A lawyer for a Christian law group, meanwhile, decried the attempt to strike the initiative. “Those who push for same-sex marriage are willing to destroy both marriage and democracy to achieve a selfish result,” he said. (More gay marriage stories.)