The Sodomite Suppression Act, also known as the "Shoot The Gays Initiative" [1] [2] or "Kill The Gays Initiative", [3] [4] was a California ballot initiative proposed by Matt McLaughlin, an Orange County lawyer, that outlines seven measures relating to same-sex people engaging in sodomy including death for anyone who participates. [5] [6] [7] McLaughlin's act calls for the killing of gays and lesbians by "bullets to the head" or "any other convenient method." [7] This proposed initiative is subject to a court order barring it from being distributed for signatures after a Sacramento County judge granted California Attorney General Kamala Harris's request to declare the initiative facially unconstitutional and therefore ineligible to receive a ballot title or summary. [8]
McLaughlin had a similar Biblical inspiration for an initiative in 2004 when he sponsored the "King James Bible as Textbook initiative", "which would amend the Constitution to allow teachers to use the Bible in literature classes." [6] [9]
McLaughlin's proposal was received by the CA Office of the Attorney General on February 26 along with the $200 filing fee. [5]
State Attorney General Kamala Harris was compelled to provide an official title and summary before the initiative signature-collective effort can proceed. [10] Harris cited public safety and constitutionality of the initiative, stating "This proposal not only threatens public safety, it is patently unconstitutional, utterly reprehensible and has no place in a civil society." [11] She asked the Superior Court to relieve her of the obligation freeing the author to seek the signatures. [11] Harris is widely seen as being supportive of LGBT people and wanted to not be a part of a process that "seeks to legalize discrimination and vigilantism" unless there was no alternative. [11] Once authorized it needs 365,880 valid signatures to qualify for the 2016 presidential election ballot. [7]
On June 23, 2015, a Sacramento County judge issued a ruling stating that the proposed initiative was not constitutional, and therefore Attorney General Harris is not required to provide an official title or summary. As a result, the initiative cannot be distributed for signatures, effectively killing its chances of being included on a statewide ballot. [8]
The Atlantic states the initiative, "which refers to homosexuality as 'a monstrous evil' and an 'abominable crime against nature,' would ban communicating messages of tolerance to minors; bar gays and lesbians, or anyone who voices acceptance, from holding government jobs or public office; and authorize mass murder" of lesbians and gays. [10] The Atlantic stated that although the initiative was unlikely to get the needed signatures, and would probably be thrown out after the 2016 elections even if it did pass, still represented a test case of permissiveness in California's ballot process that would allow a "genocidal proposition". [10] Senator Mark Leno stated, "These are the very challenges of our First Amendment right to free speech." [7]
California Attorney General Kamala Harris tried to block the initiative as it "threatens public safety, it is patently unconstitutional, utterly reprehensible, and has no place in a civil society." [7]
The California Legislative LGBT Caucus filed a formal complaint to have McLaughlin disbarred. [7] Another gay Senator, Ricardo Lara stated that the "caucus is concerned that McLaughlin has run afoul of the state bar's moral character requirement for practicing attorneys." [7] The caucus letter states shock that anyone would call for the execution of LGBT people. [7] The Bay Area Reporter stated, "state bar's rules of conduct, section 2-400, stipulates that licensed practitioners are prohibited from discriminating based on sexual orientation, among other protected classes." [7] A Change.org petition, "Disbar lawyer who wants to legalize the murder of LGBT people", has 101,722 supporters as of the end of March 2015. [7]
In an effort to defend the LGBT community, Dr. Charlotte Laws drafted her own initiative called the "Intolerant Jackass Act" [12] and submitted it to the Attorney General's office on March 23, 2015. It stated that "any person, herein known as an intolerant jackass, who brings forth a ballot measure that suggests the killing of gays and/or lesbians, shall be required to attend sensitivity training" and donate $5,000 to an LGBT cause. Laws said she had no intention of circulating her measure for signatures. It was created merely to mock McLaughlin and take his power away. [13] [14]
The "Shellfish Suppression Act" also takes its lead from the Biblical Old Testament book of Leviticus, but it cites Verse 11:12 "Whatesoever has fins nor scales in the waters, that shall be an abomination to you." [15] The act would make selling or consuming shellfish a felony with a fine of $666,000 per occurrence, "and/or imprisonment up to 6 years, 6 months, and 6 days." [15]
In spite of its anti-gay text, many legal observers viewed the initiative as an attempt to criticize the initiative process. [16] California has a long history of ballot initiatives that are challenging to implement, circulated by special interests, and/or are later found unconstitutional. The gay community itself had faced the Briggs Initiative, Proposition 22, and Proposition 8. The $200 filing fee had not been raised since the 1940s, and in the 1970s, the California Supreme Court adopted rules forcing the Attorney General to issue a summary to any initiative, even one he/she believed unenforceable, to avoid suppression of freedom of speech. [17] The initiative lead to Assembly Bill 1100, raising the filing fee from $200 to $2000, [18] and the legislature also consolidated initiatives on the November general election ballot.
This is a list of notable events in the history of LGBT rights that took place in the year 1992.
In California, a ballot proposition is a referendum or an initiative measure that is submitted to the electorate for a direct decision or direct vote. If passed, it can alter one or more of the articles of the Constitution of California, one or more of the 29 California Codes, or another law in the California Statutes by clarifying current or adding statute(s) or removing current statute(s).
Andersen v. King County, 138 P.3d 963, formerly Andersen v. Sims, is a Washington Supreme Court case in which eight lesbian and gay couples sued King County and the state of Washington for denying them marriage licenses under the state's 1998 Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which defined marriage as between a man and a woman. The court ruled that banning same-sex marriage is constitutional since the legislature could reasonably believe it furthers the government's interest in promoting procreation.
Same-sex marriage has been legal in California since June 28, 2013. The State of California first issued marriage licenses to same-sex couples from June 16, 2008 to November 5, 2008, a period of approximately 4 months and 20 days, as a result of the Supreme Court of California finding in the case of In re Marriage Cases that barring same-sex couples from marriage violated the Constitution of California. The issuance of such licenses was halted from November 5, 2008 through June 27, 2013 due to the passage of Proposition 8—a state constitutional amendment barring same-sex marriages. The granting of same-sex marriages recommenced following the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Hollingsworth v. Perry, which restored the effect of a federal district court ruling that overturned Proposition 8 as unconstitutional.
California Proposition 6, informally known as the Briggs Initiative, was an unsuccessful ballot initiative put to a referendum on the California state ballot in the November 7, 1978 election. It was sponsored by John Briggs, a conservative state legislator from Orange County. The failed initiative sought to ban gays and lesbians from working in California's public schools.
Charlotte Anne Laws, also known by her stage name Missy Laws, is an American author, talk show host, animal rights advocate, anti-revenge porn activist, former politician, and actress. Laws is a former BBC News contributor and was a weekly commentator on KNBC-TV's The Filter with Fred Roggin from 2009 to 2013. She also co-hosted the Internet show,' Every Way Woman (2008–2013) and hosted a local television show called "Uncommon Sense" from October 2007 to September 2010.
Proposition 2 was a referendum for a state constitutional amendment placed on the ballot by the Texas legislature and approved by the voters at the November 8, 2005 general election. The measure added a new provision to the Texas Constitution, Article 1, Section 32, which provides that "Marriage in this state shall consist only of the union of one man and one woman", and "This state or a political subdivision of this state may not create or recognize any legal status identical or similar to marriage." Texas thus became the nineteenth US state to adopt constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage. It was the most populous state to adopt a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage until California passed its ban in November 2008. The amendment was later invalidated in June 2015 after the Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage nationwide in the Obergefell v. Hodges decision, though the amendment remains in the Texas Constitution.
Nebraska Initiative 416 was a 2000 ballot initiative that amended the Nebraska Constitution to make it unconstitutional for the state to recognize or perform same-sex marriage, same-sex civil unions or domestic partnerships. The referendum was approved on November 7, 2000, by 70% of the voters. The initiative has since been struck down in federal court and same-sex marriage is now legally recognized in the state of Nebraska.
Equality California (EQCA) is a non-profit civil rights organization that advocates for the rights of LGBT people in California. It is the largest statewide LGBT organization in the United States and the largest member of the Equality Federation. The organization is based in Los Angeles.
Proposition 8, known informally as Prop 8, was a California ballot proposition and a state constitutional amendment intended to ban same-sex marriage; it passed in the November 2008 California state elections and was later overturned in court. The proposition was created by opponents of same-sex marriage in advance of the California Supreme Court's May 2008 appeal ruling, In re Marriage Cases, which followed the short-lived 2004 same-sex weddings controversy and found the previous ban on same-sex marriage unconstitutional. Proposition 8 was ultimately ruled unconstitutional by a federal court in 2010, although the court decision did not go into effect until June 26, 2013, following the conclusion of proponents' appeals.
Florida Amendment 2 is an amendment made to the constitution of the U.S. state of Florida in 2008. It added Article I, Section 27 to the constitution, which defines marriage as a union only between one man and one woman, and thus bans the creation of similar unions, such as civil unions or same-sex marriage.
Arkansas Proposed Initiative Act No. 1 (2008) is an initiated state statute that was approved on November 4, 2008, election in Arkansas. This measure makes it illegal for any individuals cohabiting outside of a valid marriage to adopt or provide foster care to minors. While the measure was proposed primarily to prohibit same-sex couples from being adoptive or foster parents, this measure also applies to all otherwise qualified couples who are not legally married.
Carl David DeMaio is an American politician from San Diego, California. DeMaio hosts a radio show on NewsRadio 600 KOGO. He also founded and served as Chairman of Reform California, a conservative political action committee.
Initiative 1068 was a proposed initiative for the November 2010 Washington state general election that would have removed criminal penalties from the adult use, possession, and cultivation of marijuana in Washington. Sponsored by Vivian McPeak, Douglass Hiatt, Jeffrey Steinborn, Philip Dawdy, initiative I-1068 sought to legalize marijuana by removing marijuana offenses from the state's controlled substances act, but failed to gather enough signatures to qualify for the ballot.
California is seen as one of the most liberal states in the U.S. in regard to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) rights, which have received nationwide recognition since the 1970s. Same-sex sexual activity has been legal in the state since 1976. Discrimination protections regarding sexual orientation and gender identity or expression were adopted statewide in 2003. Transgender people are also permitted to change their legal gender on official documents without any medical interventions, and mental health providers are prohibited from engaging in conversion therapy on minors.
Jean Harris, born Kathie Jean Shafer, was an American Democratic and LGBT rights activist.
Fair, Accurate, Inclusive, and Respectful Education Act, also known as the FAIR Education Act and informally described by media outlets as the LGBT History Bill, is a California law which compels the inclusion of the political, economic, and social contributions of persons with disabilities and lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people into educational textbooks and the social studies curricula in California public schools by amending the California Education Code. It also revises the previous designation of "black Americans, American Indians, Mexicans, Asians, [and] Pacific Island people" into a list considered Indigenous peoples of the Americas. It would also amend an existing law by adding sexual orientation and religion into a list of characteristics that schools are prohibited from sponsoring negative activities about or teaching students about in an adverse way.
Proposition 1 was a referendum in the Idaho in 1994, concerning gay rights and minority status. The purpose of Proposition 1 was to prevent homosexual people from receiving minority status in the state. The Idaho Citizens Alliance (ICA) petitioned for 2 years for enough signatures to put their initiative on the November 1994 ballot. Proposition 1 was defeated in the polls by a majority vote.
California Proposition 6 was a measure that was submitted to California voters as part of the November 2018 election. The ballot measure proposed a repeal of the Road Repair and Accountability Act, which is also known as Senate Bill 1. The measure failed with about 57% of the voters against and 43% in favor.