Washington Gay Marriage Ban Falls Short; Won't Be On Ballot

A citizen initiative which sought to ban gay marriage in Washington state has failed to qualify for the fall ballot.

Stephen Pidgeon, an attorney who in 2009 unsuccessfully worked with groups to overturn the state's domestic partnership law, conceded on Monday that the campaign to place Initiative 1192, which defined marriage as solely between a man and a woman, on the fall ballot had failed. The initiative, he said, was more than 140,000 signatures short. Friday is the deadline for turning in petitions to the Office of the Secretary of State.

“I hate to say it … but we're just not going to cross the threshold,” Pidgeon told The News Tribune. “We're not going to make it. This measure is not going to be on the ballot.”

Gay marriage foes have qualified Referendum 74, which asks voters to uphold – or reject – a marriage equality law approved earlier this year by lawmakers.

Pidgeon blamed Referendum 74 backers for some of his measure's failure to qualify, saying that supporters of the campaign to qualify Referendum 74 for the ballot repeatedly attacked his effort.

“I'm just going to say that the well was severely poisoned … We were killed by friendly fire,” he said. “There were activists working with R-74 [sponsors] telling people to burn our petitions, to throw them in the trash, that they would be worthless – that it would be overturned by the 9^th Circuit [court].”

“It's about fundraising, my friend,” he answered when asked for a motivation.