Gov. Arnold
Schwarzenegger announced late Wednesday that he will veto a
bill that would have made California the first state to
legalize same-sex marriage through legislative action.
Schwarzenegger said that the legislation, given
final approval Tuesday by state lawmakers, would
conflict with the intent of voters when they approved
a ballot initiative five years ago. Proposition 22 prevents
California from recognizing same-sex marriages performed in
other states or countries. "We cannot have a system
where the people vote and the legislature derails that
vote," the governor's press secretary, Margita
Thompson, said in a statement. "Out of respect for the will
of the people, the governor will veto [the bill]."
Proposition 22 stated that "only marriage
between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in
California." The bill to be vetoed by Schwarzenegger
would have defined marriage as a civil contract between
"two persons." In Massachusetts, same-sex marriages are
recognized, but the state's stance came through a court ruling.
Gay rights advocates reacted harshly, accusing
Schwarzenegger of betraying the bipartisan ideals that
helped get him elected in the 2003 recall. "Clearly
he's pandering to an extreme right wing, which was not
how he got elected," said Geoff Kors, executive director of
Equality California, one of the bill's sponsors. "He got
elected with record numbers of lesbian and gay voters
who had not previously voted for a Republican, and he
sold us out."
Kate Kendell, executive director of the National
Center for Lesbian Rights, said she was not surprised
by word of Schwarzenegger's pending veto. "Any girlie
man could have vetoed this legislation," she said,
referring to a term Schwarzenegger used previously to mock
Democratic legislators. "A real man demonstrating real
leadership as governor of the most populous state in
the nation would have chosen a different course of action."
Despite his promised veto, Schwarzenegger
"believes gay couples are entitled to full protection
under the law and should not be discriminated against
based upon their relationship," Thompson's statement said.
"He is proud that California provides the most rigorous
protections in the nation for domestic partners."
The Republican governor had indicated previously
that he would veto the bill, saying the debate over
same-sex marriage should be decided by voters or the
courts. A state appeals court is weighing an appeal of a
San Francisco judge's ruling striking down state laws
banning same-sex marriages. Meanwhile, opponents of
marriage eqaulity for gay and lesbian couples are
planning measures on the ballot next year that would
place a ban on same-sex marriages in the state constitution.
Schwarzenegger's announcement dampened a
celebratory mood among the bill's supporters, who only
the night before cheered, hugged, and kissed as the
state assembly narrowly sent the bill to the governor's
desk. Democratic assemblyman Paul Koretz had called
bans on same-sex marriage "the last frontier of
bigotry and discrimination."
The bill passed the legislature through the
persistence of its main sponsor, Assemblyman Mark
Leno, a San Francisco Democrat and one of six openly
gay members in the California legislature. Leno's original
bill failed in the assembly by four votes in June, but
he then linked it to another bill in the senate, which
voted to approve the measure last week.
The assembly passed the amended bill Tuesday by
a bare majority, with the winning margin provided by
four Democrats who did not vote on the measure in
June.The vote made the California legislature the first
legislative body in the country to approve same-sex
marriage. As in Massachusetts, civil unions in Vermont
were granted through court rulings.
"I'm encouraged that the governor is going to
stop the runaway legislature, and he's going to
represent the people," said Karen England of the
Capitol Resource Institute, a Sacramento group that
lobbied against the bill. "I think assembly member Leno
wanted to rally everyone on his side, and he's done
exactly the opposite. He's forced his agenda on the
rest of us,. But in California the votes of the people
do matter." (AP)
