(San Francisco) A group pushed ahead Thursday with a campaign to repeal California’s same-sex marriage ban, even though some other gay rights organizations think it’s too soon for another expensive ballot fight.

The new ballot proposal says religious institutions would not be required to perform same-sex unions if it conflicts with their beliefs.

“The refusal to perform a marriage under this provision shall not be the basis for lawsuit or liability, and shall not affect the tax-exempt status of any religious denomination, church or other religious institution,” reads the exemption, an attempt by Love Honor Cherish to defuse one of the arguments Proposition 8 sponsors used to garner support last fall.

Submitting wording to the California attorney general is the first step in qualifying a measure for an election. Once the language is approved, backers would have until mid-April to gather the 695,000 signatures needed to put the initiative on the November 2010 ballot.

“Our group has said since last November that we were going to go forward in November 2010, and we are living up to that promise,” said John Henning, executive director of Love Honor Cherish, a volunteer-run group.

Since Proposition 8 eliminated the right of gay couples to get married in California, gay marriage supporters have been divided over how and when to try to win it back.

The state’s largest gay rights group, Equality California, joined the American Civil Liberties Union, the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force and several other established groups in arguing that before going back to the ballot, more work needs to be done to change the minds of voters who favored the ban.

Also working against reversing Proposition 8 in 2010 is the fact that next year is a midterm election in which Californians will elect a new governor. Conservatives typically turn out in large numbers for midterm elections and will certainly be a larger share of the overall electorate than they were during last year’s presidential election.

Still, a dedicated cadre of smaller groups has insisted that the disappointment and anger stirred by Proposition 8’s passage, along with the legalization of gay marriage in Iowa, Vermont and other states, could give them the momentum to pull off a victory next year.

Los Angeles-based Courage Campaign, the most prominent group in the pro-2010 camp, has enlisted President Barack Obama’s former deputy campaign manager, Steve Hildebrand, to chart a course for a possible campaign.

Before endorsing the proposal by Love Honor Cherish or filing its own ballot language, Courage Campaign wants to know if gay marriage supporters have the money, expertise and cooperation to win.

“We have said from the very beginning that to go back to the ballot we need the research to help define the path to victory, we need a governance structure that is clear and that can make efficient decisions, we need a strong, smart campaign manager, and we need the finances,” said Courage Campaign founder Rick Jacobs.

Henning said he wanted to get the process started this week so supporters have as much time as possible for signature-gathering. If another group comes up with a different version that seems to be more popular with activists and the electorate, Love Honor Cherish would withdraw its initiative, he said.

Geoffrey Farrow, a Roman Catholic priest who was suspended from the ministry last year for opposing Proposition 8 in defiance of the church’s official stand, is one of the nine people who signed up to be official proponents of the Love Honor Cherish initiative.

He thinks the language clarifying that churches would not be required to sanction same-sex marriages will boost its chances of success.

“This is about civil marriage, not about religious marriage,” Farrow said. “In our society, even prisoners have a right to marriage.”