A Look At Yes! On Equality – The 2010 Proposed Ballot Measure Repealing Prop 8

Last week, two Prop-8-related  ballot propositions were submitted to the Attorney General’s Office and about to circulate for signatures:  One is a straight up repeal of Prop-8 and sponsored by a group called Yes! on Equality, the other is called the “Registered Domestic Partnership Act.”  It purports to change California legal code so that the word “marriage” is replaced with “registered domestic partnership.”   The idea being that California’s Registered Domestic Partnership law should extend to all married couples (this concept is also known as “civil unions for all”).  Read out post here to read the actual language of these measures.

Once the Attorney General’s Office gives these ballot props their  “official title and summary”,  each group has 150 days to get enough signature to get their measure on the ballot.   How many signatures do they need? 694,354 signatures of registered voters.   No small feat.

So whose behind these measures?  Today, we look at the Yes! On Equality folks.

Yes! On Equality: Repeals Prop 8

Yes! On Equality  is spearheaded by Sacromentian (Sacramento-ian?) Charles “Chazz” Lowe.  Lowe, who has been involved in local  LGBT issues for a long time, is confident that if the California Supreme Court does not over turn Prop 8 this Spring then voters will overturn it in a 2010 election.

Like many same-sex marriage supporters, Lowe was disappointed by the insular and ineffective No-On-8 campaign, but he refuses to get caught up in the past.  “It’s time to look forward” he says, ” we need to reach out to more people and be inclusive.”    Lowe says that Yes! On Equality will focus its efforts on reaching out to people that the No-On-8 campaign could not connect with.

“I was baptized in the Mormon church” says Lowe, “there are people in the Mormon church and in every religious group who don’t like Prop 8, we need to include those people…we need their help.”   Yes! On Equality also wants to reach out into their own backyard, specifically  the Central Valley, an area that was sorely ignored by the No-On-8 campaign.

All of this sounds great, right? Yes! On Equality has enthusiasm, youth, and are a willingness to reach out to more people– they’re determined not to make the same mistakes.  So what’s the catch?

Money.  Money is the catch. To get 694,354 valid-registered voter signatures, Yes! On Equality will need to collect about a million total signatures.  that takes professional signature gatherers.  And while Yes! On Equality plans to utilize low-cost organizing tools like social networking and whatnot, Lowe is realistic.  When asked if he thinks they can get their measure on the ballot without millions of dollars, Lowe said simply, “No.”

But the money could come.  Equality California, the established and well-funded same sex marriage advocacy group seems to be willing to work with Yes! On Equality.  Lowe says that his group was invited to Equality California’s January 24 “Equality Summit” in Los Angeles, and today’s SacBee reports that Equality California’s Geoff Kors predicts that “gay marriage advocates will ultimately line up behind the best proposals.”

What could be a better proposal than one that simply, clearly and easily repeals Prop 8?

We’ll be following the Yes! On Equality campaign closely.  We like their inclusive, realistic approach and clear-eyed optimism.

Later today or tomorrow we look at the “Registered Domestic Partnership Act.”  Stay tuned

Link:  Yes! On Equality Website