California Attorney General Kamala Harris has taken legal action to suppress what she calls an "utterly reprehensible" ballot initiative that seeks to outlaw homosexuality and kill gay people in the state.

On Wednesday, Harris petitioned a judge for authorization not to forward the "Sodomite Suppression Act" for signature-gathering. The act, which was proposed by Huntington Beach lawyer Matthew McLaughlin, states that gays in California should "be put to death by bullets to the head or by any other convenient method." McLaughlin submitted the act to the attorney general's office along with a $200 fee late last month. In order to get on the ballot in November 2016, McLaughlin must first collect more than 365,000 signatures within 180 days, reports The Los Angeles Times.

"The abominable crime against nature known as buggery, called also sodomy, is a monstrous evil that Almighty God, giver of freedom and liberty, commands us to suppress on pain of our utter destruction even as he overthrew Sodom and Gomorrha," reads McLaughlin's proposed initiative, according to AFP.

"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... 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," it states.

However, AG Harris announced that she is taking action so that the state can effectively sideline the proposal.

"This proposal not only threatens public safety, it is patently unconstitutional, utterly reprehensible, and has no place in a civil society," she said in a statement.

"Today, I am filing an action for declaratory relief with the court seeking judicial authorization for relief from the duty to prepare and issue the title and summary for the 'Sodomite Suppression Act.' If the court does not grant this relief, my office will be forced to issue a title and summary for a proposal that seeks to legalize discrimination and vigilantism," stated the attorney general.

Although Equality California has applauded Harris' move, the LGBT civil rights group pointed out that the state's ballot process needs to be reformed.

"This proposed ballot initiative is grossly out of step with the attitudes and beliefs of the people of California," said the group's executive director Rick Zbur.

"While we do not believe that this offensive measure will have sufficient support to qualify for the ballot, it points to the need to review and reform the ballot initiative process."