The group that circulated petitions to put the domestic-partnership bill on the ballot, now called Referendum 71, are appealing to the Supreme Court to keep secret the names and addresses of everyone who signed the petition. I write about the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals decision last week to release the signatures here.
I doubt the bigots trying to repeal gay rights really expect the Supremes take the case; they just want to delay any decision until after the election to reduce scrutiny. I've never been a huge fan of publishing the names—I'm also not opposed to it—but this special-rights-for-bigots campaign has gone too far. Lawmaking is done in public—whether it's on the floor of the legislature or on a petition. I'm starting to think that, assuming the court releases the names, the petition sheets should be printed as billboards. Just to make the point.
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