On
December 9, news came out that Oregon United for Marriage had gathered enough signatures to qualify their initiative for marriage equality for next year's ballot. But the title on that piece was overstated—they have enough signatures, but haven't gone through the qualification process, and in fact are still collecting signature to make sure that they have plenty of extra for the secretary of state to certify.
That also gives the campaign more time to have a conversation with Oregon voters about equality. Every signature they gather is an opportunity for them to reach out to voters, to talk about why being able to marry is so important to all loving and committed couples. So the petitioning goes on until they are certain that they've got more than enough valid signatures to qualify.
This is important because it's rather a big deal for Oregon. The state has the chance to make history by becoming the first state to repeal a marriage ban previously passed by voters. In 2004, the state's voters approved a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage. Now Oregonians have a shot at redemption, at righting that wrong.
Their efforts are working. They've gotten nearly 4,000 signatures in just the last week, the campaign reports. Now they're over 120,000! Help them get more. Please contribute now to Oregon United for Marriage.