Gay-Rights Opponents Trying Again This Time, Initiative Will Go To Lawmakers First, Voters In ‘96

An anti-gay rights initiative identical to an unsuccessful proposal last year will be filed next March as an initiative to the Legislature, the sponsoring group said on Friday.

The Washington Committee for Equal Rights, Not Special Rights, decided to file to the Legislature, rather than to the people, for several reasons, group spokesman Annetta Small said.

She said it gives the group more time to gather signatures, and that the measure will be on the ballot in November 1996, a general election year when voter turnout will be greater.

She said it also “presents an opportunity for broader public debate on the issue.”

The group said it will file the initiative March 8. It will then have until Dec. 31 to gather the signatures of 181,667 registered voters to gain certification to the Legislature.

If the proposal wins certification the Legislature would have three options: pass the measure as is, ignore it and send it to the November 1996 ballot, or pass an alternative and send both to the ballot.

The initiative would ban civil rights laws for gays and lesbians and forbid public schools from presenting homosexuality as positive or normal.

“We are not expecting the Legislature to pass it, we are hoping to just put it automatically on the ballot,” Small said.

Robert Harkins, a spokesman for the group Hands Off Washington, a pro-gay civil rights organization, said that group will continue the voter education process it used to fight off Initiative 608 last year.