SACRAMENTO (KRON) — California’s state Secretary of State Alex Padilla announced Wednesday that proponents of an initiative called the ‘Intolerant Jackass Act” may start collecting signatures.
The act was filed in response to an initiative called the ‘Sodomite Suppression Act,’ which was filed earlier this year by Orange County attorney Matt McLaughlin. That initiative would make homosexuality punishable by death. It was received with a nationwide backlash because of its evident hatred and dubious Constitutionality.
The rival initiative would force the filer of the ‘Sodomite Suppression Act’ or any similar initiative to attend sensitivity training and donate $5,000 to a pro-gay or pro-lesbian organization.
Attorney General Kamala Harris was public with her feelings about the initiative. “This proposal not only threatens public safety, it is patently
unconstitutional, utterly reprehensible, and has no place in a civil society,” Harris said in March.
Harris also sought a court injunction rescinding her obligation to prepare a title and summary for the initiative. That is something that must be done before proponents can start to college the 365,880 signatures needed to get it on the ballot.
As of June 3, Harris’s office had not done that for the initiative, but it did prepare one for the ‘Intolerant Jackass Act.’
A bill filed in response to the ‘Sodomite Suppression Act’ passed the Assembly in May and has been sent to the state Senate for consideration. The bill, written by state Assemblymen Evan Low (D-Campbell) and Richard Bloom (D-Santa Monica) would increase filing fees for proposed initiatives from $200 to $8,000 to prevent frivolous filings.