Gay marriage activists in Oregon will
launch an effort in October to put the state's constitutional gay
marriage ban up for a vote.
According
to the Statesman Journal, the gay rights group Basic
Rights Oregon will begin collecting signatures in the fall for a
possible 2012 ballot campaign.
Voters in the state approved the ban in
2004.
Three years later, the Legislature
approved domestic partnerships for gay and lesbian couples.
The decision to move forward was
announce at a Garden Party fundraiser in South Salem, at which Oregon
State Secretary Kate Brown spoke.
“I fully support the work that Basic
Rights Oregon does,” Brown said. “They do an amazing job
educating and engaging Oregonians across the state.”
“I think it's really important that
Oregonians have an understanding of how discrimination impacts the
lesbian, gay, transgender and bisexual community,” she added.
Polling shows more voters in the state
support gay marriage than oppose it, but not a majority. A Public
Policy Polling survey in June found 48 percent of voters in favor and
42 percent against the legalization of such marriages.
Campaigners
in Maine also hope to put a similar question on the ballot next year.