Gov. Arnold
Schwarzenegger said Friday that he would fight an initiative
to amend the California constitution to ban same-sex
marriage if it qualifies for the November ballot.
Schwarzenegger
has vetoed bills that would allow same-sex marriage but
said he opposes the sort of amendments that are being
proposed by two competing groups. Such amendments are
already on the books in 26 states, but the governor
said it would be a ''waste of time'' to pursue one in
California.
''I will always
be there to fight against that,'' Schwarzenegger said,
prompting loud cheers and a standing ovation from about 200
people at the annual convention of the Log Cabin
Republicans, the nation's largest gay Republican
group.
The Austrian-born
governor immediately cracked that he wished activists
would instead focus on passing an amendment to allow
naturalized citizens to run for president.
Both proposed
initiatives would limit marriage to heterosexuals, and one
measure would revoke the spousal rights and tax benefits
currently extended to gay couples under state laws.
Schwarzenegger
supports the current benefits for gay couples. In vetoing
bills that would have legalized gay marriage, he has said he
thinks the question should be up to voters or the
courts, not lawmakers.
Geoffrey Kors,
executive director of the gay rights group Equality
California, said Schwarzenegger's opposition could help
defeat a marriage ban or even prevent it from getting
enough signatures to qualify for the ballot.
''We were
thrilled. We have been asking him to do this,'' said Kors,
whose group's volunteers have been working to persuade
people not to sign petitions for the proposed
initiative. ''The governor's support to defeat it is
critical.''
Kors said
Schwarzenegger's stand has precedent. In 1978 former
Republican governor Ronald Reagan came out against a
ballot initiative that would have made it illegal for
gay men and lesbians to work as teachers in California
public schools, an act that ''made gay rights issues
nonpartisan,'' Kors said.
Schwarzenegger is
a defendant in a group of lawsuits brought by gay
couples seeking to overturn the state's longtime statutory
ban on same-sex marriage. A ruling in the case is
expected soon from the California supreme court.
(Allison Hoffman, AP)
