Sodomite Suppression Act

The Sodomite Suppression Act, also known as the "Shoot The Gays Initiative"{{cite news|last1=Gambino|first1=Lauren|title=California lawyer seeks to put 'shoot the gays' proposal on 2016 ballot|url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/mar/23/california-lawyer-shoot-the-gays-proposal-2016-ballot|accessdate=30 June 2017|work=The Guardian|date=23 March 2015}}{{cite news|last1=Diaz|first1=John|title="Shoot the gays" measure shows flaw in state's initiative process|url=http://www.sfchronicle.com/opinion/diaz/article/Shoot-the-gays-measure-shows-flaw-in-6163682.php|accessdate=30 June 2017|work=San Francisco Chronicle|date=27 March 2015}} or "Kill The Gays Initiative",{{cite news| author-link=Mark Joseph Stern|last1=Stern|first1=Mark Joseph|title=Judge Nixes California's "Kill the Gays" Ballot Initiative|url=http://www.slate.com/blogs/outward/2015/06/23/kill_the_gays_ballot_initiative_california_judge_nixes_it.html|accessdate=30 June 2017|work=Slate|date=23 June 2015}}{{cite news|last1=Chabria|first1=Anita|title=California 'Kill the Gays' ballot blocked|url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/jun/24/california-court-blocks-kill-the-gays-bill|accessdate=30 June 2017|work=The Guardian|date=23 June 2015}} was a 2015 California ballot initiative proposed by Matt McLaughlin, an Orange County lawyer, that outlines seven measures relating to same-sex people engaging in sodomy, including the death penalty for anyone who participates.{{cite web|last1=Sieczkowski|first1=Cavan|title=Lawyer In California Proposes Killing Gays With 'Sodomite Suppression Act'|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/03/02/lawyer-killing-gays-sodomite-suppression_n_6786776.html|publisher=Huffington Post|accessdate=March 31, 2015|date=2015-03-02}}{{cite web|last1=Williams|first1=Ken|title=OC lawyer wants to "kill the gays" in California, according to initiative goal|url=http://sdgln.com/news/2015/03/02/oc-lawyer-wants-kill-all-gays-california-according-initaitive-goal|publisher=San Diego Gay & Lesbian News|accessdate=March 31, 2015|date=2015-03-02}}{{cite web|title=Harris Seeks to Stop 'Shoot the Gays' Initiative|url=http://www.edgesanfrancisco.com/news/national/news//174259|publisher=Bay Area Reporter|accessdate=March 31, 2015}} McLaughlin's act calls for the killing of gays and lesbians by "bullets to the head" or "any other convenient method." This proposed initiative is subject to a court order barring it from being distributed for signatures after a Sacramento County judge granted California Attorney General Kamala Harris's request to declare the initiative facially unconstitutional and therefore ineligible to receive a ballot title or summary.{{cite web|last1=Branson-Potts|first1=Hailey|title=Judge strikes down proposed 'Sodomite Suppression Act' calling for killing of gays|url=http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-antigay-sodomite-suppression-act-struck-down-20150623-story.html|work=Los Angeles Times|accessdate=June 24, 2015|date=2015-06-23}}

Background

McLaughlin had a similar Biblical inspiration for an initiative in 2004 when he sponsored the "King James Bible as Textbook initiative", "which would amend the Constitution to allow teachers to use the Bible in literature classes."{{cite web|last1=Reza|first1=H.G.|title=Bible's Lessons Inspired Initiative: The O.C. attorney behind a measure that would put Scripture in literature classes says studying it sharpened his thinking.|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2004-jan-12-me-bibleman12-story.html|work=Los Angeles Times|access-date=March 31, 2015|date=2004-01-12}}

McLaughlin's proposal was received by the CA Office of the Attorney General on February 26 along with the $200 filing fee.

State Attorney General Kamala Harris was compelled to provide an official title and summary before the initiative signature-collective effort can proceed. Harris cited public safety and constitutionality of the initiative, stating "This proposal not only threatens public safety, it is patently unconstitutional, utterly reprehensible and has no place in a civil society."{{cite news|last1=Nagourney|first1=Adam|title=California Seeks to Head Off Initiative to Execute Gays|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/26/us/politics/california-seeks-to-head-off-initiative-to-execute-gays.html|newspaper=The New York Times|accessdate=March 31, 2015|date=2015-03-25}} She asked the Superior Court to relieve her of the obligation freeing the author to seek the signatures. Harris is widely seen as being supportive of LGBT people and wanted to not be a part of a process that "seeks to legalize discrimination and vigilantism" unless there was no alternative. Once authorized it needs 365,880 valid signatures to qualify for the 2016 presidential election ballot.

On June 23, 2015, a Sacramento County judge issued a ruling stating that the proposed initiative was not constitutional, and therefore Attorney General Harris is not required to provide an official title or summary. As a result, the initiative cannot be distributed for signatures, effectively killing its chances of being included on a statewide ballot.

Reaction

The Atlantic states the initiative, "which refers to homosexuality as 'a monstrous evil' and an 'abominable crime against nature,' would ban communicating messages of tolerance to minors; bar gays and lesbians, or anyone who voices acceptance, from holding government jobs or public office; and authorize mass murder" of lesbians and gays.{{cite web|last1=Berman|first1=Russell|title=Will Californians Vote On Executing Gays and Lesbians? Unless a court intervenes, the state will have to allow an attorney to collect signatures for a ballot measure that would authorize mass murder.|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/03/will-californians-vote-on-executing-gays-and-lesbians/388784/|publisher=The Atlantic|accessdate=March 31, 2015|date=2015-03-26}} The Atlantic stated that although the initiative was unlikely to get the needed signatures, and would probably be thrown out after the 2016 elections even if it did pass, still represented a test case of permissiveness in California's ballot process that would allow a "genocidal proposition". Senator Mark Leno stated, "These are the very challenges of our First Amendment right to free speech."

California Attorney General Kamala Harris tried to block the initiative as it "threatens public safety, it is patently unconstitutional, utterly reprehensible, and has no place in a civil society."

The California Legislative LGBT Caucus filed a formal complaint to have McLaughlin disbarred. Another gay Senator, Ricardo Lara stated that the "caucus is concerned that McLaughlin has run afoul of the state bar's moral character requirement for practicing attorneys." The caucus letter states shock that anyone would call for the execution of LGBT people. The Bay Area Reporter stated, "state bar's rules of conduct, section 2-400, stipulates that licensed practitioners are prohibited from discriminating based on sexual orientation, among other protected classes." A Change.org petition, "Disbar lawyer who wants to legalize the murder of LGBT people", has 101,722 supporters as of the end of March 2015.

Related initiatives

In an effort to defend the LGBT community, Dr. Charlotte Laws drafted her own initiative called the "Intolerant Jackass Act"{{cite web|url=http://blog.sfgate.com/nov05election/2015/03/25/shoot-the-gays-initiative-countered-by-intolerant-jackass-act/|title='Shoot the Gays' initiative countered by 'Intolerant Jackass Act'|work=Politics Blog|accessdate=June 26, 2015}} and submitted it to the Attorney General's office on March 23, 2015. It stated that "any person, herein known as an intolerant jackass, who brings forth a ballot measure that suggests the killing of gays and/or lesbians, shall be required to attend sensitivity training" and donate $5,000 to an LGBT cause. Laws said she had no intention of circulating her measure for signatures. It was created merely to mock McLaughlin and take his power away.{{cite web|url=http://www.advocate.com/politics/2015/03/24/california-activist-has-perfect-response-shoot-gays-initiative|title=California Activist Has Perfect Response to 'Shoot the Gays' Initiative|author=Trudy Ring|work=Advocate.com|accessdate=June 26, 2015|date=2015-03-24}}{{cite web|url=http://www.slate.com/blogs/outward/2015/03/23/the_intolerant_jackass_act_a_brilliant_response_to_that_kill_the_gays_bill.html|title=The Intolerant Jackass Act: A brilliant response to that Kill the Gays bill.|work=Slate Magazine|date=23 March 2015 |accessdate=June 26, 2015}}

The "Shellfish Suppression Act" also takes its lead from the Biblical Old Testament book of Leviticus, but it cites [http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Translation:Leviticus#11._Dietary_laws_.28Kashruth.29 Verse 11:12] "Whatesoever has fins nor scales in the waters, that shall be an abomination to you."{{cite web|title=Californians counter proposed 'Biblical' anti-gay law with 'Shellfish Suppression Act'|url=http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2015/04/06/californians-counter-proposed-biblical-anti-gay-law-with-shellfish-suppression-act/|publisher=Pink News|accessdate=April 10, 2015|date=2015-04-06}} The act would make selling or consuming shellfish a felony with a fine of $666,000 per occurrence, "and/or imprisonment up to 6 years, 6 months, and 6 days."

Aftermath

In spite of its anti-gay text, many legal observers viewed the initiative as an attempt to criticize the initiative process.{{cite web|last1=Mikikelson|first1=David|title=Sodomite Suppression Act Proposed in California?|url=http://www.snopes.com/politics/sexuality/sodomite.asp|website=snopes.com}} California has a long history of ballot initiatives that are challenging to implement, circulated by special interests, and/or are later found unconstitutional. The gay community itself had faced the Briggs Initiative, Proposition 22, and Proposition 8. The $200 filing fee had not been raised since the 1940s, and in the 1970s, the California Supreme Court adopted rules forcing the Attorney General to issue a summary to any initiative, even one he/she believed unenforceable, to avoid suppression of freedom of speech.{{cite web|last1=Stern|first1=Mark Joseph|title=California's "Kill the Gays" initiative can't be stopped|url=http://www.slate.com/blogs/outward/2015/03/20/california_can_t_kill_its_kill_the_gays_ballot_measure.html|website=Slate.com|date=20 March 2015 }} The initiative lead to Assembly Bill 1100, raising the filing fee from $200 to $2000,{{cite web|last1=McGreevy|first1=Patrick|title=California Lawmakers Vote to Raise Initiative Fee from $200 to $200|url=http://www.latimes.com/local/political/la-me-pc-california-lawmakers-vote-to-raise-initiative-fee-20150817-story.html|work=Los Angeles Times|date=2015-08-18}} and the legislature also consolidated initiatives on the November general election ballot.