Prop. 8 Wont Be Repealed at Ballot Box in '10

The effort to repeal California's Proposition 8 at the ballot box in November 2010 has come up short in its signature-gathering effort, meaning the antigay measure will remain in place for the foreseeable future.

The group Restore Equality 2010 said in a press release it will not reach its goal of 694,354 petition signatures for the Tuesday deadline; that number represents the required amount to get an initiative on the California ballot (which requires signatures from 8% of the voters in the last gubernatorial election).

Sean Bohac, state advisory panel chair for Restore Equality 2010, would not release the amount of signatures they gathered but said his group is looking forward to 2012.

"We're definitely going to be working on a ballot initiative [in 2012] and we're going to be working on that with a cadre of supportive organizations," Bohac told The Advocate.

Signature gathering for the 2012 repeal effort will begin in the summer of 2011. Bohac said his group, which will change its name shortly, is also keeping an eye on the federal lawsuit against Prop. 8.

"I am not an expert, but the two courts that it will go through before the U.S. Supreme Court are likely to be supportive and rule in our favor," Bohac said. "But 98% of the country doesn't expect the U.S. Supreme Court, in its current makeup, to rule in our favor."