EFFORT TO BAN GAY MARRIAGE FALLS SHORT OF SIGNATURES.

Byline: Harrison Sheppard Sacramento Bureau

SACRAMENTO - Backers of a proposed ballot measure to ban gay marriage and domestic partnerships said they failed to collect enough signatures by a Tuesday deadline to put the issue before voters.

Supported by a coalition of family-values groups and Republican legislators called ProtectMarriage.com, the measure sought to ban marriage between same-sex couples as well as roll back existing laws recognizing domestic partnerships.

Proponents had to gather nearly 600,000 signatures by Tuesday to be placed on the ballot, but realized last week they had fallen about 200,000 short of the mark.

The group's attorney, Andrew Pugno, said proponents do not plan to endorse another proposed measure to ban gay marriages because it shows little chance of passing.

``(The two measures) are similar, but differ in that the other effort focuses almost exclusively on restricting benefits and rights, while our measure focuses on formal government recognition of relationships similar to marriage,'' Pugno said.

Pugno said the group will wait until 2008 to consider moving forward, in part because it believes legal challenges now before the courts may not come to a California Supreme Court decision until 2007.

The other group pushing for a gay marriage ban, VoteYesMarriage.com is continuing to move forward with fundraising and preparations for a signature drive. Randy Thomasson, one of the organizers, said backers will not begin collecting signatures until they have the necessary funds in place, and are hoping to place it on the November 2006 ballot, though it could be later.

That measure goes further in seeking to restrict some of the mandatory benefits awarded by the state to domestic partnerships.

``Currently in California we have counterfeit marriage,'' Thomasson said. ``Marriage is no longer special. The Legislature virtually killed off the people's vote on marriage (Proposition 22) by awarding virtually everything that belongs to marriage to unmarried persons. Our amendment will fix this problem by giving true protection to marriage and protecting the special institution from the clutches of judges and politicians.''

Civil rights and gay/lesbian groups are expected to fight the measure vigorously.

``One down, one to go,'' said Assemblywoman Jackie Goldberg, D-Los Angeles, a member of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Caucus and a co-author of domestic partner legislation.

``It doesn't matter what version they put on the ballot. They're going to be in for a very strong fight. And it won't be just from members of the LGBT community. It will also be from the civil rights community, and from all those forces that supported the (pro-gay marriage) bill the governor vetoed.''

Harrison Sheppard, [phone]

harrison.sheppard(at)dailynews.com