Hutcherson abandons Initiative 963

Antioch Bible Church pastor Ken Hutcherson, who earlier this year filed an initiative to overturn Washington's recently amended civil rights law that bans discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, admitted today that he has not been doing any work to qualify the measure.

Initiatives currently require 224,880 valid signatures to appear on the ballot. I-963 never had a signature drive, so it stands no chance of going before voters. Its demise is the religious right's second failure in two years to force a vote on the law. Last year's Referendum 65 (an effort by Tim Eyman, Hutcherson, and others) also came up short. The equal rights law appears to be safe for the foreseeable future.