Language Change in Prop 8 Begets Lawsuit

Photo by Donnay via Flickr

Last week, Attorney General Jerry Brown's office changed the language on Proposition 8, the proposed California constitution amendment change that would ban gay marriage if a majority of voters cast a "yes" ballot for it in November. Now, the Yes on Prop 8 people are planning on filing a suit this morning to block the change.

The language change basically went from Prop 8 saying it was "to provide that only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California" to Prop 8 will "eliminate the right of same-sex couples to marry."

A Protect Marriage coalition spokeswoman told the LA Times that the new language is "inherently argumentative" and that it could "prejudice voters against the initiative." The coalition's website still states the old language.

But Attorney General Brown says the change was necessary to reflect the legalization of gay marriage before the November ballot. When the proposition was submitted to the state, same-sex marriage was not yet legal and was in the hands of California Supreme Court justices, therefore the wording made sense. Now that it is legal, the wording had to be changed. The lawsuit hopes to reverse it back to the original wording.