Prop 8 Repeal Filed

Language was filed today to repeal Proposition 8 and bring marriage equality back to the Golden State.

A coalition of grassroots organizations including Love Honor Cherish, WhiteKnot.org, and Equality Network submitted the proposal for the November 2010 election, which includes California's gubernatorial race and midterm congressional races.

The new proposition, if passed, would replace the language of Section 7.5 of the state constitution -- "Only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California" -- with "Marriage is between only two persons and shall not be restricted on the basis of race, color, creed, ancestry, national origin, sex, gender, sexual orientation, or religion."

The amendment would also add the following:

"Section 1. To protect religious freedom, no court shall interpret this measure to require any priest, minister, pastor, rabbi, or other person authorized to perform marriages by any religious denomination, church, or other non-profit religious institution to perform any marriage in violation of his or her religious beliefs. The refusal to perform a marriage under this provision shall not be the basis for lawsuit or liability, and shall not affect the tax-exempt status of any religious denomination, church, or other religious institution."

Last month, Equality California's marriage director, Marc Solomon, announced that the statewide organization would concentrate its efforts on repealing Proposition 8 in 2012.

"It's extremely hard to win a campaign like this," Solomon said during a telephone press conference on August 12. "It's a $40 million to $60 million venture. It's moving people who just voted on this less than a year ago. It would be really irresponsible to say to a group or an organization that we're going to contribute dollars even though we don't think this is the smarter approach."