Following California voters’ success in repealing their legislators’ legalization of same-sex marriage, New Yorkers are planning an initiative to put the issue on the ballot.

“New York same-sex ‘marriage’ advocates will soon face a backlash for forcing the new ‘marriage’ law through the legislature, including a campaign to oust turncoat lawmakers and a ballot initiative to enshrine traditional marriage in the state constitution, the National Organization for Marriage has said,” reports Kathleen Gilbert of LifeSiteNews. “The group has announced that the fight for true marriage is not over in the Empire State.”

“It’s high time for change in Albany,” says NOM President Brian Brown.

His group is organizing a four-year campaign strategy to combat the new law, which goes into effect July 24. Among top priorities is to put an amendment defining marriage as between a man and a woman in the state constitution before state voters, a step that requires the consent of two successive legislatures, but not the governor, according to Brown.

A poll by QEV Analytics found that 59 percent of New York voters preferred to decide the marriage question directly, with only 26 percent favoring a legislative avenue.

NOM criticized what it called “underhanded tactics” that were used to push same-sex marriage through the New York legislature.

“The Gotham Gazette reported in the wake of the Senate vote,” writes Gilbert, “that the public was illegally barred from accessing committee meetings discussing the bill. In addition, backers secretly changed Senate rules twice – just before and during the vote – in order to push the redefinition through on a tight schedule, depriving outraged senators of a chance to explain their ‘yes’ votes to angry constituencies.’

The poll also found 57 percent of New Yorkers agreeing that marriage is “only between a man and a woman,” a result that was virtually flipped when respondents were asked in a contemporary poll whether same-sex couples ought to be allowed to marry.

Brown also promised to campaign against lawmakers who supported the bill, including Republican senators Mark Grisanti, Steven Saland, James Alesi, and Roy MacDonald, and Democrat senators Carl Kruger, Joseph Addabbo and Shirley Huntley.

Brown said that true marriage supporters shouldn’t be discouraged that an immediate repeal isn’t possible, pointing to progress reversing similar laws in New Hampshire and Iowa, where same-sex “marriage” has been legal for only two years.

In ordinarily liberal California, when the matter was put before voters, same-sex marriage was overwhelmingly banned.

“The key to success is electing legislative majorities who will answer to the people of their state, and not to special interests,” he said. “We’ve successfully defeated every pro-SSM Republican we’ve ever targeted, and I’m convinced we can do so again.”