Harris Seeks to Stop 'Shoot the Gays' Initiative

State Attorney General Kamala Harris on Wednesday said that she would go to court in an effort to stop a proposed ballot initiative that calls for gays to be killed.

The afternoon announcement was the first time Harris has publicly addressed the issue.

In a statement, Harris said that attorney Matthew G. McLaughlin's proposed "Sodomite Suppression Act" "not only threatens public safety, it is patently unconstitutional, utterly reprehensible, and has no place in a civil society."

Harris added that if the court does not grant her office authorization not to issue a title and summary, she will be forced to allow the proposal to proceed to the signature gathering phase "for a proposal that seeks to legalize discrimination and vigilantism."

Meanwhile, the state's Legislative LGBT Caucus has filed a formal complaint with the State Bar of California to have the attorney behind the initiative disbarred.

McLaughlin, a Huntington Beach lawyer, last month spent $200 to file his ballot measure with the attorney general's office.

McLaughlin's act authorizes the killing of gays and lesbians by "bullets to the head" or "any other convenient method." It would need 365,880 valid signatures to qualify for the November 2016 ballot.

The attorney general's office provided the Bay Area Reporter with a copy of the paperwork signed by McLaughlin. The proposed initiative, dated February 26, refers to homosexual sex as "a monstrous evil that Almighty God, giver of freedom and liberty, commands us to oppress, on pain of our utter destruction even as he overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah."

The initiative further calls for anyone who supports LGBT people to be barred from serving in public office, and to be sentenced to 10 years in prison.

In his filing with the state, McLaughlin writes that "it is better that offenders should die rather than all of us be killed by God's wrath."

Some election attorneys said - before her statement - that Harris may have no choice but to allow the measure to proceed

Vikram Amar, a law professor at UC Davis, told the Sacramento Bee that state law "generally favors judges making these decisions about what's legal [or] not rather than elected political officials like the attorney general."

The experts agreed that it's unlikely McLaughlin's initiative would get the required number of signatures.

Gay state Senator Mark Leno (D-San Francisco), a member of the Legislative LGBT Caucus, said that Harris' hands may be tied.

"My understanding of the law is that she may not have any options," Leno told the B.A.R. before her statement. "Even as despicable as this proposal is, the law allows anyone with $200 to attempt to gather the necessary signatures."

Leno also talked about whether the law could be changed to stop such initiatives from being filed.

"Which individual person gets to decide what is constitutional and what is not?" he asked. "Where do you draw the line? These are the very challenges of our First Amendment right to free speech."

Harris' office offered little in the way of comment.

"Our office is currently reviewing the proposed measure and our legal options," spokeswoman Kristin Ford told the B.A.R .

Legislative Caucus Files Complaint

In other news, the Legislative LGBT Caucus, a group of out state lawmakers, has filed a formal complaint against McLaughlin with the state bar, charging that his extreme proposal amounts to violating the law as it calls for "murder of members of the LGBT community."

"We believe that this measure not only fails constitutional muster, but that such inciting and hateful language has no place in our discourse, let alone state constitution," the caucus' letter reads in part.

As gay state Senator Ricardo Lara (D-Los Angeles) told the B.A.R. a few weeks ago, the caucus is concerned that McLaughlin has run afoul of the state bar's moral character requirement for practicing attorneys.

Signers of the letter - Assembly members Susan Eggman (D-Stockton), Evan Low (D-Campbell), and Rich Gordon (D-Menlo Park) and Senators Leno, Lara, and Cathleen Galgiani (D-Stockton) - wrote that they have spent "much of our personal and professional lives combating bigotry wherever it lies. While we believe that this measure may not qualify for the state ballot, we cannot in good conscience stand idly by."

The caucus called upon the state bar to "fully investigate Mr. McLaughlin's provocative and potentially unethical actions and to mete out appropriate corrective action."

Leno said that he didn't think that McLaughlin's proposed law had any chance of gathering enough signatures to get onto the ballot.

"The bar association should consider the state of Matt McLaughlin's mental health," Leno said. "We don't believe in his current mental state that he should continue to hold membership in the state bar."

The caucus' letter to the state bar expresses shock that McLaughlin would call for the execution of LGBT people.

"According to the state bar's moral character requirement for admission, members are expected to demonstrate good moral character through showing respect for and obedience for the law, and respect for the rights of others and for the judicial process," the letter reads in part.

The letter further points out that the state bar's rules of conduct, section 2-400, stipulates that licensed practitioners are prohibited from discriminating based on sexual orientation, among other protected classes.

"To the degree that we all treat each other respectfully and with dignity in every individual interaction, we can help put an end to the dangerous nonsense of Matthew McLaughlin and those like him," said Leno.

McLaughlin did not return a message seeking comment.

While the attorney general's office reviews the proposed initiative, West Sacramento resident Carol Dahmen has posted a petition at Change.org that also calls upon the state bar to disbar McLaughlin. At press time, Dahmen's petition received 21,560 signatures out of 25,000 needed.

"Advocating the murder of innocent citizens clearly demonstrates moral turpitude and abuse of the law," Dahmen wrote in the petition's introduction. "It is disturbing and outrageous that a lawyer admitted to the California State Bar would disgrace the profession and the state. This immoral individual is unfit to practice law."

A state bar spokeswoman told the B.A.R. earlier this month that the organization is aware of the controversy.

"The bar is aware of the public calls for Mr. McLaughlin's disbarment," spokeswoman Laura Ernde said.

To sign the change.org petition, visit https://www.change.org/p/california-state-bar-disbar-matthew-gregory-mclaughlin-198329