For the second time in a year, California conservative activists have failed to qualify a measure for the statewide ballot that seeks to ban same-sex marriage in the state constitution.

California is the only state where such attempts to amend the constitution to ban marriage and domestic partnerships for same-sex couples have been unsuccessful, said Equality for All, a statewide campaign to defeat such measures, in a statement.

“Today, we are proud to be Californians, where opponents of equality for California families are unable to gather the support they need to place an anti-equality measure on the ballot,” said Dale Kelly Bankhead, campaign manager for Equality for All.

“It is clear that our strong opposition and early fund-raising were part of the reason these extremists have had difficulty gaining support for these discriminatory measures,” Bankhead said, “in addition to the fact that Californians are tired of these divisive and costly campaigns.”

Lorri L. Jean, chief executive officer of the L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center, and executive committee member of the Equality for All campaign, said that in spite of filing 14 nearly-identical initiatives, “these religious and political extremists failed to qualify even one for the upcoming elections.”

“However, we believe it is a matter of not if we face such a ballot measure in California, but when,” Jean said. “… Those who oppose equality are already circulating petitions for the next statewide election in June of 2008. We will continue to monitor those efforts and to educate voters about the cost of marriage discrimination and how a repeal of the existing domestic partnership protections would truly harm California families.”

Proponents of placing a same-sex marriage and domestic partnership ban in the state constitution have told the media and their supporters that they expect events between now and 2008 to trigger support for such measures, Equality for All said. It is likely that two such triggering events would include the passage of legislation to secure same-sex marriage in state law and a court ruling finding that banning same-sex marriage is unconstitutional.

Last year, the California Legislature became the first legislative body in the nation to pass marriage equality legislation. The Religious Freedom and Civil Marriage Protection Act was passed last year but vetoed by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. The bill will be re-introduced during the 2007-08 legislative session, Equality for All said.

Constitutional litigation is currently working its way through the court system, with a state appeals court ruling anticipated in 2007, followed by review by the California Supreme Court. San Francisco Superior Court Judge Richard Kramer ruled last year in the case Woo v. Lockyer that excluding same-sex couples from marriage was unconstitutional.

“As the effort to achieve marriage equality moves forward in the courts and the Legislature, it is imperative that all fair-minded Californians get involved by voting in every election and by speaking out against discrimination and in support of equality for all,” said Geoffrey Kors, a member of the Equality for All executive committee and executive director of the statewide GLBT advocacy group Equality California, which sponsored the Religious Freedom and Civil Marriage Protection Act.

Equality for All is a coalition of more than 25 GLBT and allied organizations that was created last year to defeat any anti-same-sex marriage measures placed on the California ballot. Member groups include: Equality California, the National Center for Lesbian Rights, the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, Lambda Legal, PFLAG and other family groups, the ACLU, the California chapter of the National Organization for Women, Planned Parenthood, the GLBT centers of San Francisco, Los Angeles and San Diego, and groups representing the religious, Latino, African-American and Asian and Pacific Islander American communities.

Equality for All has raised almost $750,000 – nearly four times as much as their opponents – and has established a grassroots network of volunteers who have identified thousands of voters who support marriage equality for same sex couples, the organization said.