An effort to
repeal Washington State's recently passed nondiscrimination
law protecting gays and lesbians in employment and housing
has failed, allowing the law to take effect on
Wednesday. Antigay activist Tim Eyman on Tuesday
failed to turn in enough signatures to qualify Referendum 65
for the November ballot, the Seattle Times
reports.
State law
required the campaign to turn in 112,440 signatures of
registered voters, but Eyman said his group had managed to
collect only 105,103 signatures. Ballot measure
supporters generally need to collect 25% to 30% more
signatures than required to make sure they have
sufficient valid ones.
On the steps of
the secretary of state's office on Tuesday, Eyman
expressed optimism about his efforts. "Getting that many
signatures is an enormously positive accomplishment,"
he said, pouring cups of sparkling cider to celebrate.
"Obviously we fell short, but we said we'd push to the
end."
However, Gary
Randall, president of the Faith and Freedom Network, a
Christian group that helped collect signatures, wasn't ready
to party, accusing Eyman of mishandling the campaign,
according to the Times. Eyman showed up at a news
conference on Monday dressed as Darth Vader to promote
his ballot measures.
Randall said the
fight isn't over. His group plans to attack the issue
again without Eyman, possibly with an initiative to the
legislature. That would require nearly 225,000
signatures to be turned in 10 days before the start of
the next legislative session in January. "We feel pretty
deeply about this," Randall told the Times.
If an initiative
to the legislature gets enough signatures, lawmakers can
take one of three actions: adopt it as written; place it on
the next general election ballot; or pass an amended
version and let voters choose between it and the
original initiative.
"The people of
Washington have spoken decisively in their support for
the state's antidiscrimination law," said Barbara
Green, executive director of the gay rights group
Equal Rights Washington. "We thank the fair-minded
residents of the Evergreen State for defending the civil
rights of their gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender
neighbors. We are not surprised that Tim Eyman failed
to collect enough signatures to qualify the referendum
for the ballot. Washington residents believe in
fairness for all, and they have demonstrated that by their
refusal to sign on to this mean-spirited effort."
(The Advocate)
