Anti-gay marriage petition nears filing

Stacy J. Willis

Thursday, June 8, 2000 | 11:24 a.m.

An effort to ensure that gay couples cannot legally marry in Nevada moved one step closer toward success Wednesday, organizers said.

The president of the Coalition for the Protection of Marriage said that his group has collected "significantly more than" the 44,009 petition signatures needed to put the proposed constitutional amendment on the November ballot.

The measure would read, "Only a marriage between a male and a female person shall be recognized and given effect in this state."

Although gay marriage is not legally recognized in Nevada today, coalition president Richard Ziser fears that Vermont's recent approval of a gay "civil union" statute might force other states to recognize those gay marriages.

"We need to be clear that we will not recognize same-gender marriages performed in another state," Ziser, president of Canyon Ridge Christian Church, said. "Homosexuality is a sin."

Ziser plans to file his petition with the state on June 15, after which state officials will spot-check the validity of the signatures.

In order for the amendment to take effect in 2002, a majority of voters would have to approve it this year and again next year.

Gays, lesbians, and their heterosexual supporters are planning to combat the measure with a "Decline to Sign" advertising campaign, funded primarily by private, in-state donations, although out-of-state support is being courted.

"We have been quietly marshaling our forces," said Bob Fulkerson, state director of the Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada (PLAN), a nonprofit organization that supports the counter-effort's Coalition for Unity.

"We're gearing up for a two-year battle. We didn't choose this fight, but have no doubt, we're in it for the long run," Fulkerson said.

"This is about discrimination. It's not about the sanctity of marriage.

"Since they started this petition drive, there have been at least a thousand legal divorces in the state, hundreds of domestic abuse cases, drug and alcohol problems and innumerable other damaging social problems that lead to the breakdown of the institution of marriage...

"If they are concerned about the sanctity of that institution, why don't they put their dollars and energy toward addressing those social problems? Instead, they have singled out one group and chosen to discriminate against them. This is an equal rights issue," Fulkerson said.

Ziser responded: "This initiative is not about those issues. It is about protecting the institution of marriage as being between a man and a woman. It is about protecting Nevada laws.

"And I can guarantee you that the faith-based organizations who support us have programs devoted to those social problems."

The Coalition for the Protection of Marriage is heavily supported by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, whose members were central to anti-gay marriage efforts in Hawaii and Alaska, and most recently, in California.

Thirty-three states have passed legislation that recognizes only heterosexual marriages.

Ziser said in addition to Mormons, members of other faiths and non-religious volunteers provided the support necessary to circulate thousands of petitions statewide.