GAY TRUTH

The Associated Press on an important landmark being reached (and surpassed!) by our allies in Washington State ! Opponents of gay marriage say they have enough signatures to qualify a referendum for the November ballot. Preserve Marriage Washington plans to submit more than 200,000 signatures Wednesday, blocking the law from taking effect on Thursday. State officials will review the filings over the next week to determine whether the referendum will qualify for a public vote. The referendum seeks to overturn the measure allowing same-sex marriage in the state. That law was passed by the Legislature and signed by Gov.  Chris Gregoire earlier this year. The Washington secretary of state 's office recommends that campaigns submit about 150,000 signatures in order to provide a cushion for invalid or duplicate signatures. --  AP Related articles Opponents place Wash. gay marriage law on hold (sfgate.com) Opponents block Washington state gay marriage (seattleti

National Organization for Marriage (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) WASHINGTON, D.C. —The National Organization for Marriage (NOM) today commended the volunteer leadership of  Preserve Marriage Washington  on its incredible effort in collecting a record number of signatures to qualify Referendum 74, which gives voters the ability to preserve traditional marriage in the state. The committee turned in more than 240,000 voter signatures, more than twice the number of signatures it needed to qualify the measure to the November ballot. "We are so pleased and proud to have supported the Preserve Marriage Washington effort to qualify R-74, and we commend them for the historic signature gathering campaign they have mounted," said Brian Brown , NOM’s president and a member of the Executive Committee of Preserve Marriage Washington. "The signature gathering effort produced more signatures than have ever been collected by any referendum committee in the history of the state.