(Eureka Springs, AR) For the second time in two days, an anti-gay minister's eleventh-hour attempt to halt enactment of the state's first Domestic Partnership Registry failed Thursday.

As a result, the Eureka Springs Registry will go into effect as scheduled today (June 22).

Fundamentalist preacher Philip «Flip» Wilson yesterday submitted a fundamentally flawed petition seeking a referendum election to block the Registry, unanimously approved by the city council May 14.

His failure means gay and straight couples will be waiting outside city hall this morning to get the first official partnership certificates signed by Mayor Dani Wilson or City Clerk M.J. Sell.

Television news crews and regional newspaper reporters will be on hand to record the historic event.

Couples who live elsewhere in the state--or even out of state--and who were waiting for the Registry to go into effect can now finalize their summer vacation plans and make arrangements for commitment ceremonies in Eureka Springs.

Sell rejected the pastor's second referendum petition because it had no ballot title and failed to specifically express the intent of the petition--two glaring errors. His first petition was rejected by Sell on Wednesday because of other serious technical shortcomings.

Though confident voters would approve the Registry had the issue been put on a ballot, backers of the measure are overjoyed they will not have to wait months for the Registry to go into effect nor wage a costly campaign to make it a reality.

Avoiding a referendum will also save the resort town between $6,000 and $9,000, the price tag for an off-season special election.

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