Marriage bill clears California assembly panel

A bill to legalize same-sex marriage in California cleared the assembly judiciary committee on Tuesday, the first step in reaching the desk of a governor who has promised to veto it.

The bill, by Assemblyman Mark Leno of San Francisco, moves on Tuesday's 6–3 vote to the appropriations committee and an expected June vote on the assembly floor.

It mirrors a 2005 bill that passed both legislative houses—a first in in U.S. history—only to be knocked down by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Schwarzenegger has signed some gay-friendly legislation in the past, but this week his office restated his opposition to the bill.

Alice Kessler, director of legislative affairs for Equality California, said her group is working the issue on several fronts.

"We're in talks with the governor's office," Kessler said. "We want him to meet with same-sex couples who will tell him how important this is for families. We are working in the legislature and in the courts." (Last week the California supreme court received briefs for its expected ruling later this year in the city of San Francisco's 2004 marriage-license spree.)

"What we will not do is back down," Kessler added. "We will continue to present this bill to the governor—or another governor—until he will sign it."

The Austrian-born former action star comfortably won reelection in November but is barred from a third term by term limits (and from federal office by his foreign birth).

In his 2005 veto message, Schwarzenegger pointed to an antimarriage initiative approved by California voters five years earlier and said any attempt to legalize same-sex marriage should be decided by voters or the courts.

"I don't want, as governor, to go against the will of the people," he told a student audience in February.

Leno told AP this week that his bill doesn't need voter approval because it would amend a different section of law than Proposition 22, meant to block California from recognizing same-sex marriages performed elsewhere. He said his bill deals with marriages performed in California and defines them as civil contracts between two people. (Barbara Wilcox, The Advocate)