The proposed initiative to amend California's constitution to discriminate against gay couples states baldly:
"Only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California."
But what does this mean exactly? David Link makes an important point:
If the constitutional initiative will only preclude same-sex couples from marrying, but still recognize their domestic partnerships, it may be able to muster its majority by drawing in some of the anti-marriage voters in that moderate middle third. However, if the language will exclude same-sex couples from any constitutional protection for their relationships--marriage, domestic partnership, or anything else--the initiative's chances will not only be slim; they will be near fatal. No state has ever adopted legal protections for same-sex couples and then taken them away. The effect of this initiative would be to nullify the relationships of nearly 50,000 couples already registered as domestic partners.
The press needs to ask the initiative's sponsors if they support removal of all domestic partnership rights from gay couples. That's what the theocons want; and their strategy has been to wait until such amendments pass before lowering the boom on gay couples, removing their spouse-based health insurance, etc. Is that still their position in California - that even domestic partnerships need to be abolished? Californians should know very clearly before they vote.