Free Republic

With 16 months to go before an expected vote on a state constitutional ban on gay marriage, groups on both sides of the issue are gearing up for a major fight. Action Wisconsin, a statewide advocacy group for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people, has joined forces with the Milwaukee-based Center Advocates to mount a statewide advocacy campaign aimed at defeating the proposal, which will likely be placed on the November 2006 ballot. Leading the charge in support of the proposal is the Wisconsin Coalition for Traditional Marriage, a nonprofit, volunteer group that is coordinated by Julaine Appling, executive director...

Using an end run around a previous vote against a bill authorizing same-sex marriage, a California legislator is seeking to revive the issue believed dead for this session in a parliamentary maneuver known as "gut-and-amend." The original bill, AB19, authored by San Francisco Assemblyman Mark Leno, fell four votes short in the Assembly last month because seven of his Democrat colleagues failed to vote on the measure when the roll was called, a practice known as "taking a walk," according to an editorial in today's San Francisco Chronicle. Unable to reintroduce his original bill, Leno deleted the language of a...