Five months and 1.1 million signatures later, the California marriage amendment is headed to the November ballot.
The last of the petitions are being boxed up and will be delivered to county registrars around the state this week.
Ron Prentice, executive director of the California Family Council, said he was "thrilled."
"The fact that we will turn in 1.1 million signatures is unprecedented, coming from the grassroots and the churches of this state," he said. "We know that the road ahead will be especially quarrelsome, but we look for Christians to stand up, to represent biblical truth and God's will for marriage."
The amendment to the state constitution would protect marriage from the courts and the Legislature. The state Supreme Court is scheduled to rule by early June on a series of lawsuits challenging the state's existing one-man, one-woman marriage laws. The Legislature has passed back-to-back same-sex "marriage" bills, both of which were vetoed by the governor.
"This shouldn't be something left to the court either now or in the future," Brian Brown, executive director of the California office of the National Organization for Marriage, told The Associated Press. "The idea that California voters should be the ones to decide this is an idea that resonates with people."
Focus on the Family helped to make it happen, Prentice said.
"Focus on the Family's assistance was foundational to this amendment's success," he said. "We are so grateful for Focus' commitment to these issues in every state."
Prentice said he knows the road ahead will be anything but smooth.
"This will be a hard-fought campaign, and there will be a lot of deceit that comes from the opposition," he said. "It will take the united efforts of pastors and churches around this state to inform their people about the purpose of marriage and the intent of this amendment in order to bring them to vote. We'll need every vote we can find."
FOR MORE INFORMATION
Visit the Protect Marriage Web site.
Twenty-seven states have amended their constitutions to protect marriage.
Paid for by ProtectMarriage.com committee P.O. Box 20012 Riverside, California 92516-0012 with major funding provided by Focus on the Family, 8605 Explorer Drive, Colorado Springs, CO 80920
