Arizona's Forgotten Proposition

With all of the attention going toward neighboring California's Proposition 8, many are overlooking the fact that for the second time in a row, Arizona voters will be voting on a statewide proposition to ban gay marriage.  With an Arizona Senator at the top of the GOP presidential ticket, this could spell trouble at the ballot box for LGBT rights.

One might start to wonder if Arizona's nickname is "The Redundancy State."  Arizona's Proposition 102 seeks to amend the state constitution to define marriage as between one man and one woman.   It's a similar proposition that, much to the shock of most people, failed in 2006.  And did we mention that in 1996, Arizona passed a state law banning same-sex marriage?

When Arizona voters rejected the proposition in 2006 to rewrite marriage discrimination into the state constitution, it became the first state to reject such a measure.  Up until that point, 27 states had placed constitutional amendments banning gay marriage on the ballot, and all 27 had them pass.  But 2008 is looking like a different story.

Opponents of gay marriage, led by Focus on the Family, have raised a staggering $7 million to support Proposition 102, while LGBT rights organizers have raised less than 10 percent of that amount.  Some of that may have to do with the large outpouring of funds into California to defeat Proposition 8.  But the net effect is that gay marriage opponents are saturating the state with propaganda for Prop 102, in a state where GOP turnout could be high with John McCain at the top of the ballot.

Arizona-based LGBT rights groups are doing amazing work to fight back this proposition.  Wingspan, Equality Arizona, and Vote No on Prop 102 have all been leading the way to defeat this anti-gay measure.  Check them out, and let's make all four of these ballot initiatives - California, Florida, Arkansas, and now Arizona - fail on November 4.