20000309

California voters pass gay marriage ban

SAN FRANCISCO: California voters passed a ban on gay marriage and a crackdown on juvenile crime -- which could mandate the death penalty for some 14-year-old offenders -- as part of a laundry list of state propositions on the "Super Tuesday" ballot.

A measure approving Las Vegas-style gambling at Indian tribal casinos also passed, while two propositions which would have given consumers broad powers to sue insurance companies went down in defeat after the insurance industry outspent its opponents by tens of millions of dollars.

California's ballot initiative process regularly presents the state's voters with choices on everything from basic social policy to bond issues.

With 14 percent of precincts reporting, the measure was passing by 62 to 37 percent -- a victory for the coalition of Mormon and Catholic religious groups, Republican conservatives and Hispanic labour organisations which supported it.

Gay activists and political leaders, who had described the measure as a veiled attempt to roll back gay civil rights, said the battle would continue.

The measure, which was leading 64 to 35 percent in early returns, paved the way for implementation of a 1998 state proposition which had been ruled unconstitutional by the state Supreme Court.-Reuters