Contact: Frank Schubert, ProtectMarriage.com, 916-849-6627

SACRAMENTO, June 21 /Christian Newswire/ -- Opponents of the California Marriage Amendment, which would restore marriage in California as only a man and a woman, filed a petition today asking the California Supreme Court to remove the proposed initiative from the November ballot, thereby silencing voters on this important issue.

Based on the recent California Supreme Court's ruling that led to the issuance of marriage licenses to same-sex partners this week, today's lawsuit contends that restoring the definition of marriage in the State Constitution cannot be legally accomplished by voter initiative, but rather must be passed through a different process for constitutional "revisions".

Attorneys for the ProtectMarriage.com coalition, which is sponsoring the Marriage Amendment, said the lawsuit seeking to remove the initiative from the ballot is based on "flimsy" legal arguments and will likely be rejected by the court.

"This is an act of desperation," said Ron Prentice chairman of the ProtectMarriage.com coalition which is sponsoring the Marriage Amendment. "The voters deserve a chance to vote on this important issue, but our extremist opponents want to silence the voters.  This will only energize public support for overturning the court's decision."