SUMMARY: Knight falls on the California initiative process as a measure to ban same-gender marriages qualifies for the ballot, giving its author the opportunity to demonize in the name of God.

California state Senator Pete Knight (R-Palmdale) failed repeatedly in attempts in the legislature to enact an explicit prohibition against legal recognition of same-gender marriages another state may someday perform, but now he's succeeded in putting one before the voters. Secretary of State Bill Jones (R) gave the go-ahead on November 16 for Knight's initiative to appear on the March 7, 2000 primary ballot, having found by random sampling that more than 482,000 signatures of the 677,000 on his petition are valid -- well over the 433,269 minimum to qualify. Knight said the signature-gathering campaign cost $500,000 for paid workers, even though churches circulated the petitions.

Officially designated as "Definition of Marriage," the measure would deny validity in California to any marriages not between one man and one woman. Knight believes this will protect the "traditional" definition of marriage from both same-gender couples and group marriages. He does not trust either the federal Defense of Marriage Act of 1996 or the new state constitutional amendments in Hawai'i and Alaska to protect California from incursions of gay and lesbian couples married in another state, especially since another marriage case is being heard November 18 in Vermont. California itself has long defined marriage as between a man and a woman, but has recognized even common-law relationships from other states.

Openly lesbian state Assemblymember Sheila Kuehl (D-Santa Monica) told the "Los Angeles Times" that Knight, "is going to take his particular talent for demonizing gay and lesbian people into the initiative process. He is going to have a major fight on his hands.... There are thousands of people in California who will be willing to stand up this time and say, 'This is not a good thing.'" Kuehl was instrumental in blocking Knight's earlier anti-marriage efforts in the legislature, which have been essentially his only notable achievement there.

In 1996, Knight revealed that he has a gay son and that his brother died of AIDS. David Knight, who lives with his partner in Baltimore, Maryland, was outed by his father when the then-assemblyman learned that a newspaper intended to print a story about his family. Knight said at the time that he had not been surprised when David came out to him and that, "His sexual preference is of no consequence to my work as a state legislator." Although John Knight had been in a relationship with another man for more than 10 years at the time of his death, Knight, who reportedly refused to attend the funeral, claimed to be uncertain about his brother's sexual orientation.