The Death Penalty for Being Gay? A California Attorney's Serious Plan

Written by Paige Austin (Patch Staff) and Bea Karnes (Patch Staff)

A proposed ballot initiative in California would impose the death penalty for sexual acts involving same-sex couples.

It reads that people guilty of such acts “…be put to death by bullets to the head or by any other convenient method.”

The ballot proposal and appropriate filing fee were received by the California Attorney General’s Office on Feb. 26, 2015. The sponsor must now gather and submit more than 350,000 valid voter signatures in order for it to be placed on the ballot.

The petition itself is hardly a threat, said Kevin O’Grady, executive director of The LGBT Center OC.

“I dismiss it out of hand,” said O’Grady. “This guy is obviously a nutjob.”

But the hatred and vitriol behind the petition is concerning, added O’Grady. Someone willing to carry their hatred to the extreme of filing the petition could pose a danger to the LGBT community in Orange County, he added.

O’Grady said it would be a mistake to conflate petitioner Matthew G. McLaughlin with the “run-of-the-mill homophobe” because the petition reflects such an extreme well of hatred. However O’Grady said he is not surprised it originated in Orange County where gay people still face a surprising amount of bigotry.

The Center routinely counsels professionals afraid to come out for fear of professional discrimination from clients and colleagues in Orange County, said O’Grady. In the last year, The Center has worked with an Irvine woman who was anonymously threatened and whose homeowners association tried to force her to remove a gay pride flag, a South County couple daily bombarded with homophobic epithets from neighbors, and a lesbian couple brutally attacked in the parking lot of an Anaheim WalMart.

Colleagues from around the nation are shocked at the kinds of things we see in Orange County, said O’Grady.

“Historically, Orange County has the politics and culture of extreme conservatism that fosters homophobia,” he added.

As for the petition, activists will wait and see what happens, said O’Grady. Anyone who signs it can expect public exposure and backlash, he added.

Officially titled Sodomite Suppression Act in the filing, it reads, “The abominable crime against nature known as buggery, called also sodomy, is a monstrous evil that Almighty God, giver of freedom and liberty, commands us to suppress on pain of our utter destruction even as he overthrew Sodom and Gomorrha.”

The proposal also requires the law to be posted in all classrooms, without regard for the age of children, “The text shall be prominently posted in every public school classroom.”

A message was left for McLaughlin seeking comment.

More than 500 people have signed a petition on Change.org to have McLaughlin disbarred. While people all over the country have signed the petition, California residents list many reasons why they think McLaughlin should lose his right to practice law. Rachel Martin of North Highlands wrote, “This is a disgusting proposal. I am in disbelief that this can actually be considered. The only thing I can compare this proposal to is Nazi Thinking.” David Rutter of Ojai added, “Blind, stupid hatred cannot be the foundation for new laws.” And Leslie Castro summed up feelings when she said, “This is wrong, no matter what your belief is.”

Even if this proposal makes it onto the ballot and it’s approved by voters, it will never become law:

1. In Lawrence v. Texas, 2003, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned all state laws banning sodomy. California law cannot supersede federal law.

2. In 2014, a federal judge declared California’s death penalty unconstitutional.

• What do you think? Tell us in the comments section below.

Read the full ballot proposal here.

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