A Californian lawyer has put forward a proposal that would sanction the killing of gay and lesbian residents on the basis of their sexuality.

The proposal – called the “Sodomite Suppression Act” – is awaiting review by the office of the state’s attorney general, Kamala Harris. Rumours suggest that Harris does not have the legal authority to block the proposal.

However, the proposal is unlikely to reach voters as the California supreme court can intervene to block measures from the ballot that violate the state constitution, reports The Guardian.

“Seeing that it is better that offenders should die rather than that all of us should be killed by God’s just wrath against us for the folly of tolerating-wickedness in our midst,” reads Section (b) of the act, “the People of California wisely command, in the fear of God, that any person who willingly touches another person of the same gender for purposes of sexual gratification be put to death by bullets to the head or by any other convenient method.”

In a frightening nod to Russia’s recent “Don’t Say Gay” anti-gay laws, the next section of the bill says anyone who distributes “sodomistic propaganda” to a minor should “be fined $1 million per occurrence, and/or imprisoned up to 10 years, and/or expelled from the boundaries of the state of California for up to life.”

Lawyer Matt McLaughlin, of Huntington Beach, California filled the proposal in February in order to have the initiative appear on the ballot in November 2016.

Since McLaughlin paid the $200 filing fee to submit the proposal, the attorney general is legally required to prepare a circulating title and 100-word summary of the initiative before sending it to the secretary of state’s office for the signature-gathering period.

Once the proposal collects at least 356,000 valid signatures within 90 days it qualifies for the ballot, but at this point the Supreme Court can intervene.

LGBT members of California’s state legislature have filed a complaint with the state bar against McLaughlin on the grounds that his actions violate the “good moral character” expected of those in the legal profession.