gay rights
With the turn of the New Year, new initiatives will take the stage and petitioners will hit the streets to rally support for their causes. The causes are as varied as they can be and both local and state-wide issues. With some already submitted and others in the planning stages, initiatives for many hot-button issues will be championed and fought against in 2014.
In Oregon, an initiative attempting to strike down the state’s gay marriage ban:
http://www.pqmonthly.com/two-court-cases-ballot-initiative-one-big-goal/18148
In Oklahoma, two initiatives advocated by a city councilman to prohibit use of sales tax revenue for new buildings:
A San Francisco federal judge decided today to release video recordings of last year’s trial over the constitutionality of California’s ban on same-sex marriage.
Two same-sex couples, along with a coalition of news organizations, asked for the release of the videos, saying there is no reason to keep them secret.
Judge James Ware did leave open the possibility that a higer court could overturn his ruling, and won’t release the videos until September 30th.
Local activists for Equality Maine rallied throughout southern York County over the weekend to collect signatures for a petition to put gay marriage on the state ballot in 2012. About 57,000 signatures are needed statewide to get the item on the ballot, and organizers hope to gather about 80,000.
The nation’s highest court will decide by January 11 if they will hear arguments in Doe v. Reed, according to the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. The case hinges on whether signatures on a referendum petition fall under the state’s public records disclosure law.
As the U.S. Supreme Court decides whether signatures on the Referendum-71 petition in Washington state should be made public, a public opinion battle is heating up. Compelling arguments are surfacing on both sides of the issue, with each side calling on the High Court to rule in their favor.
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy has ordered the Washington Secretary of State not to release the names and addresses of voters who signed the petition for Referendum 71.