High Court OKs

release of names

of R-71 signers

   WASHINGTON, D.C. — The well over 100,000 Washington state residents — including many concerned Christians — who signed a petition to repeal the state’s gay rights law can’t prevent their names from becoming public, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled last month.
    In an 8-1 vote, with only Justice Clarence Thomas dissenting, the court ruled against Protect Marriage Washington, a coalition largely comprising Christian organizations and which organized last year’s petition drive that succeeded in placing Referendum 71 on last November’s statewide ballot. That measure failed as a majority of Washington voters decided not to overturn the same-sex domestic partnership law.

    Homosexual rights groups have said that they will post the petition signers' names online if allowed. But Protect Marriage Washington sought to have the court block the release of the names, citing threats of violence against the petition signers and churches. The matter eventually went to the U.S. Supreme Court, which heard the case April 28.
    After the court issued its ruling June 24, Gary Randall of Faith and Freedom Network, a leader in Protect Marriage Washington, said the matter "is not settled yet." He noted that the names cannot be released immediately to homosexual activists. That's because the final decision will rest in a lower court, in that Protect Marriage Washington still has the option to ask the lower court for an exemption from disclosure in this case only.
   "We see releasing the names as having a very chilling effect on citizens' exercise of free speech and participation in the initiative process," said Randall. "Particularly in those cases where threats have been made publicly toward those who signed."
    Writing for the majority, Chief Justice John Roberts, said the state has a strong interest in guarding against election fraud and rooting out invalid signatures on petitions.
    Washington Attorney General Rob McKenna, who argued the case on behalf of the state, and Secretary of State Sam Reed said they both welcomed the ruling.
    In a later e-mail to his Faith and Freedom Network supporters, Randall wrote that while he and other leaders in Protect Marriage Washington were the target of hurtful threats by referendum opponents, he would pursue such an initiative again, if necessary.
    Randall said opponents of the gay rights law regard it "as an incremental, perhaps the last incremental step, to same-sex marriage in Washington state."
    Thus, Referendum 71 "was and is about a fundamental principle of standing in support of natural marriage, which is the cornerstone of every successful society," Randall wrote. "Natural marriage is biblical and it is right. And it is essential to a sustainable and healthy culture.
   "With all of us, it was never about political posturing. It was about standing for righteousness."