Supporters of an amendment to ban gay marriage in Illinois have not conceded defeat, but the referendum they had hoped to have on the ballot this fall is circling the drain.
The Illinois Family Institute/Protect Marriage Illinois (Bigots Against Equal Rights would be a better name) submitted 330,000 signatures. The state elections people found that there were too many invalid signatures. The groups appealed, and yesterday that appeal was denied. Now they intend to seek help from federal courts. I don't believe that's going to go anywhere. I liked this quote from Peter LaBarbera, executive director of the anti-gay marriage groups - "It's not near over.". Peter, it VERY near over.
http://www.dailyherald.com/...=
Interestingly, both major-party gubenatorial candidates (Judy Baar Topinka (republican) and Rod Blagojevich (democrat)) have come out as opposed to a consitutional amendment, while at the same time saying they oppose gay marriage. That kind of issue-straddling has got to be hard on the hamstrings.
It will be interesting to see if this has any effect on the governor's race. Traditionally, republicans have seen these ballot questions as a means to get out the right wing voters. So does this bode well for Blagojevich?