California, Bans and people who keep pushing when they have the upper hand

Eric Johnston, PlanetOut Network Wed May 11, 7:27 PM ET
SUMMARY: California opponents of equal marriage rights vowed to take their push for a state constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage directly to the voters.
After a pair of failures in the California Legislature, opponents of equal marriage rights vowed Tuesday to take their push for a state constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage directly to the people of California.
The conservative groups said they would try to gather enough signatures to put an initiative banning gay marriage on the ballot in 2006.
The proposed amendment would also strip legal protections and responsibilities for LGBT couples and their families, including those recognized under California's comprehensive domestic partner law.
"This disturbing display of arrogance against marriage and the voters means average Californians must take matters into their own hands," said Randy Thomasson, president of the Campaign for Children and Families, who supports the amendment.
On Tuesday the Senate
Judiciary Committee SEARCH News News Photos Images Web Judiciary Committee voted 5-2 against the measure, introduced by Sen. Bill Morrow, R-Oceanside. Later the same day, the Assembly Judiciary Committee voted 6-3 against a similar measure, introduced by Assemblyman Ray Haynes, R-Temecula. The measures were backed by the
Traditional Values Coalition SEARCHNews News Photos Images Web Traditional Values Coalition, another group that opposes civil rights for LGBT people.
Democratic Assemblyman Lloyd Levine said the proposed amendment amounted to "legalizing discrimination."
"There is a group of people who, for whatever reason, do not like gays and cannot tolerate the idea of two women sleeping together or two men sleeping together," he told the Associated Press. "To put that into the Constitution … is simply unconscionable."
"This is a major defeat to this hurtful, anti-family measure disguised as protecting families," said Executive Director Geoffrey Kors of Equality California. "Anti-gay extremists want to repeal California's domestic partnership law and prevent the Legislature, the courts and the voters from passing laws to provide any legal rights and protections to lesbian and gay couples and their families."
He was referring to a series of bills passed by the state Legislature in recent years that recognize domestic partnerships and grant them most of the rights given married couples, including the rights to sue for wrongful death of a partner and to adopt a partner's child.
"The truth is this measure would have done nothing to protect a single California family -- it would not have helped parents provide food, shelter or clothing for their children; it would not have put an extra teacher in a classroom or immunized any child against a life-threatening disease," said Kors. "What it would have done is make it harder for tens of thousands of parents to provide for their children's most basic needs, such as health insurance."
Anti-gay groups have been urged on by a recent court ruling that California's ban on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional. That decision is currently being appealed.
If you'd like to know more, you can find stories related to Rebuffed, Calif. anti-gay groups eye ballot.

These same people would deny the medical protections and such for children of unmarried or gay/lesbian households. These are the same people that say they are "protecting families" and yet destroying them in their wake.