Subscribe to Breaking News
Loading ...Voter initiative would allow civil partnerships in Arizona
01.28.2009 2:05pm EST
(Phoenix, Arizona) Two gay Arizona men have begun a voter initiative to legalize civil partnerships in the state.
Gino Meriano and Philip Cotton filed notice of the proposal with the Secretary of State’s Office, the first step to begin collecting signatures to have the question put to voters in 2010.“This was a special moment and one that Philip and I will not forget, at last a new start and fresh approach for Arizona by bringing a new concept that will provide same-sex couples full and equal legal rights and protection that is well overdue,” Meriano said in a statement.
To get the question placed on the ballot they will need to collect 230,047 valid signatures.
If approved, the measure would provide almost all of the rights and obligations of marriage that are covered under Arizona law.
That would include tax benefits currently available only to married couples, partner rights to determine each other’s care if one is unable to make medical decisions, inclusion in domestic violence laws and the ability to collect benefits after a partner’s death or to inherit a partner’s assets on death.
Meriano owns Pink Weddings, a Mesa-based company that helps same-sex couples arrange commitment ceremonies. Cotton is the founder of the LGBT rights group Unified Voice, based in Peoria, Ariz.
Arizona has a so-called Defense of Marriage law that bars same-sex marriage. Last November, voters approved a constitutional amendment limiting marriage to opposite-sex couples. Supporters of the amendment argued that DOMA could be overturned by the courts and the amendment would block that.
The vote came two years after voters turned down a similar amendment. That version also would have barred civil unions.
Meriano and Cotton believe Arizona voters, while wanting to limit marriage, would approve civil partnerships and that the debate is only over the name. Meriano said that he believes straight voters will support civil partnerships and gays who want marriage over civil unions will support the word ‘partnerships.’
He said that was the case in the UK, which gives gay couples all of the rights of marriage under the Civil Partnership law but not the name marriage. The UK law was passed in 2005.
The group behind the marriage amendment said it would oppose the civil partnership plan.
The conservative Center for Arizona Policy called civil partnerships “counterfeit marriage”.
“Marriage – and the benefits of marriage – should be reserved for one man and one woman,” said Cathi Herrod the center’s president.
The final two lines of this story just make me mad and sad. Why do these people get to vote on the rights of others? Why O Why?
Conservatives want to force all other Americans to live by their standards (which are frequently hypocritical if not downright laughable). Their approach is more in tune with a Nazi mindset and is a danger to a free society.
Do onto others as you would have done onto yourself, Miss Cathi Herrod!!!
Separate is not equal, But people like Cathi “lovingly” do not even want that for us.
Tom in Long Beach
I live in AZ, I need to sign this! On the other hand, it will NEVER pass in AZ. But at least the more the issue is brought up the more the younger generations accept it. Unless they get brainwashed by the religious right.
The final two lines are not what makes me mad or sad. These lines are what make me mad and sad:
“If approved, the measure would provide ALMOST all of the rights and obligations of marriage that are covered under Arizona law.” (Emphasis added.)
It is more proof that ’separate but equal’ only produces inequality. And it is more difficult to change than simple inequality because those who vote already figure they’ve done enough and are slow to do more even when what they have done so obviously falls short of equality.
Well, the Colombian Constitutional Court has just aproved more than 40 new rights for same sex partners.
Jose, that is good news from the Colombian court. 40 more rights. And how many more rights are there left to go?
Again, ’separate but equal’ means we remain unequal.
I don’t think ANYONE should have the right to vote on anybody’s life. Prop 8 proved that! All this crap just pisses me off!
Some progress is good progress. I do think that civil unions need to pass. Look at New Jersey, they may be another state to add gay marriage. The state allowed civil unions under the notion that there would be a review to see just how equal it was. It is deemed that it is very unequal and now the people of the state are more comfortable with the subject because they don’t have the fear they once had. I don’t think the gay community will become complacent with civil unions but we do need to take baby steps to get there. Once Prop 8 is repealed we will see things get a lot better. California makes up the biggest portion of the population for one state. It will vastly help set the standard for the rest of the civilized country.
Do these christians know what a disaster they are creating in this country? Since the rise of the religious right, we have so many people putting their religion ahead of their country and its constitution. Have they no clue at all that they are trying to destroy the very thing that makes their religious beliefs safe?
On Monday, January 26, “Yes for Arizona Civil Partnerships” ignored the advice and recommendations of Arizona LGBT community leaders and filed an application with the Arizona Secretary of State for an Initiative Petition Serial Number.
IF YOU ARE ASKED TO SIGN A PETITION TO PUT CIVIL UNIONS ON THE BALLOT IN ARIZONA IN 2010 PLEASE DO NOT SIGN.
PLEASE SPREAD THE WORD THAT THIS BALLOT INITIATIVE WOULD CREATE A SECOND CLASS STATUS FOR LGBT CITIZENS OF ARIZONA, AND BE DETRIMENTAL TO THE EFFORTS OF LGBT FRIENDLY POLITICIANS RUNNING IN THE 2010 ELECTIONS.
As with every issue once it enters the political realm, we are now in a position where decisions will be made based purely on numbers. At this point it is all about the number of signatures, so here are some numbers for you to consider:
230,047: The number of signatures required to put this proposition on the ballot in 2010.
980,753: The number of votes AGAINST Proposition 102. Every one of these votes is a potential signature for the petition. Many of these votes are from allies who believe that we deserve equal marriage rights, and unless we reach out to them and educate them that this is not ‘a step in the right direction’ they may sign the petition thinking that they are helping the LGBT community. Not even 25% of the people who voted against Prop 102 would need to sign the Civil Union Initiative Petition to put the the issue on the ballot.
1,258,335: The number of votes FOR Proposition 102. These are the voters in Arizona who are motivated to use their vote to ensure a socially conservative agenda is followed, and mandated, in Arizona. These are the people who will be motivated to go to the polls and cast a vote against any candidate they feel would be an ally to the LGBT community if there is an initiative on the ballot which they feel would give our relationships more validation than they deserve, even though in truth the initiative falls well short of providing us with the equality it promises.
?: The number we can not count is how many years it would take the LGBT community to recover from any damage done by the loss of our political allies. We have to support them so that they can support us. Do we really need to do much more than look at what has happened in Arizona since Jan Brewer took over as Governor only one week ago to imagine what we would face as a state, and a community, if we continue to lose political allies?
Dies ist ein gro