Opinion: Ruling allows attorney general to quash ‘kill the gays’ initiative before it gets to voters

The “kill the gays” proposal is such a terrible initiative that it never deserved a place on a California ballot. And now it seems it won’t -- but not because it failed to get the signatures needed to qualify.

A Sacramento superior court judge has concluded that the proposal is “patently unconstitutional on its face,” allowing state Atty. Gen. Kamala Harris to refuse to issue a title and summary to the initiative. That is a required step before the proposal can move to the secretary of state’s office and be certified as ready to gather support signatures.

This ruling feels pretty good to those of us, including the Times’ Editorial Board, who were horrified by the Sodomite Suppression Act and its murderous prescription for homosexuals. But, as we opined in an editorial this spring, it does seem to open the door to the politicization of a process that ought to be left to voters.

But what’s done is done. The question now is whether the proponent, conservative Orange County attorney Matt McLaughlin, will break his silence and appeal the ruling. Hopefully not. I, for one, would be happy never to write the name of the proposal or the man behind it again.

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