Not So Fast on Ballot Initiative, Says Oregon Gay Rights Group

An Oregon newspaper reported on Sunday that a gay rights group there planned to try putting marriage equality up for a vote through a ballot initiative. But the group's executive director is pulling back, saying no decision has been made.

"An article by the Salem Statesman Journal inadvertently implied that Basic Rights Oregon has already decided to gather signatures for a 2012 ballot measure, while in fact we do not expect to make this decision until later this year," said Jeana Frazzini, executive director of Basic Rights Oregon, in a statement on the group's website.

Frazzini promised that Basic Rights Oregon would "continue our work to educate the public about why civil marriage matters to caring and committed same-sex couples." But it looks like plans for a ballot initiative are in flux.

The Statesman Journal had reported that Frazzini told a crowd of her supporters during the group's Summer Garden Party that a formal signature-gathering campaign would begin in October, which would ensure it arrives on the November 2012 ballot.

Voters in 2004 passed a constitutional ban on marriage equality. The state began allowing domestic partnerships in 2008.