A well-known
Arkansas conservative group announced Tuesday its plan to
put a measure on next year's ballot that would bar
gays from adopting or fostering children, according to
an Associated Press report.
Jerry Cox,
executive director of the Family Council of Arkansas, says
the prohibition will be similar to proposed
legislation that was rejected by Arkansas legislators
earlier this year.
"It's not
any big secret that we've been planning to do this,"
Cox told the AP. "We just got so many questions
that we wanted to let people know that we're
definitely going for it."
In order to get
on the ballot, the proposed measure will require about
78,000 signatures, equal to 10% of the ballots cast in the
last gubernatorial election.
The earlier
legislation, which would have prevented gay and unmarried
couples from becoming foster or adoptive parents, passed the
state senate but was rejected by the house judiciary
committee. Legislators
were concerned about the ban's constitutionality,
according to Arkansas governor Mike Beebe, because it
didn't offer equal protection to all people.
Both measures are
a reaction to last year's Arkansas supreme court
decision to remove a state ban on gay foster parents.
(The Advocate)
Charlie Kirk DID say stoning gay people was the 'perfect law' — and these other heinous quotes