A proposed
measure prohibiting unmarried but cohabitating couples from
adopting or fostering children in Arkansas has fallen short
of the 61,794 signatures necessary to get it placed on
the November ballot, according to a press release from
the Arkansas News Bureau.
The Family
Council Action Committee has been spearheading the
initiative and has been granted an extension of 30
days to gather additional signatures. It still needs
about 4,000 valid signatures to get the initiative on
the ballot. The group originally submitted the required
number of signatures, but only 57,888 were certified as
valid. FCAC executive director Jerry Cox plans to
obtain the missing signatures, and 10,000 more, in
part by canvassing large churches to gain support.
According to the
group, gathering signatures for this measure is more
difficult than the signature-gathering effort four
years ago to amend Arkansas's constitution to ban gay
marriage, which passed easily, because the
adoption issue is more complicated and difficult to
explain.
In working on
this campaign, the FCAC is working to "blunt a
homosexual agenda," Cox said. (The
Advocate)
