Free Republic

You wouldn't have picked up on it during the debates, but John McCain and Barack Obama actually agree on some issues. One of them is gay marriage. Both candidates oppose the concept, preferring instead the squishy alternative of civil unions. They're both wrong. I can sympathize. In 2000, when 61 percent of California voters approved Proposition 22, a ballot measure that defined marriage as between a man and a woman, I opposed gay marriage. I felt gay-rights activists should concentrate on a more achievable goal such as a federal civil rights bill outlawing private-sector discrimination based on sexual orientation. Then...

"More disappointed than surprised" -- that describes the feelings of a California pro-family coalition working to place a marriage amendment question of the fall general election ballot. On Thursday the California Supreme Court ruled against Proposition 22 and other prohibitions against same-sex "marriage" in a 4-3 decision. In doing so, says Ron Prentice of ProtectMarriage.com, the court created new law instead of interpreting existing law. Prentice contends the decision completely disregards the vote of the people, which defined marriage as being between one man and one woman. That vote took place in March 2000; however, it did not protect the...

SAN FRANCISCO -- In his right hand, Luke Otterstad held a pole attached to a big yellow sign that read "Re-Criminalize Sodomy." In his left, he held a bullhorn that never touched his lips. "I haven't used it at all," said Otterstad, 22, who drove down from Placerville, prepped for a booming rhetorical showdown with same-sex marriage advocates Tuesday outside the California Supreme Court. "I expected a mob. Maybe it's too early in the morning." Or too late in the game. As lawyers on both sides of the same-sex marriage debate argued before the state's highest court and hundreds of...

As gay-rights groups call for marital equality and opponents warn of a public backlash, societal decay and religious conflict, the California Supreme Court is prepared for an epic three-hour hearing Tuesday on the constitutionality of the state law defining marriage as the union of a man and a woman. It shapes up as the most momentous case the court has heard in decades - comparable to the 1981 ruling that guaranteed Medi-Cal abortions for poor women, the 1972 ruling that briefly overturned the state's death penalty law, and the 1948 decision, cited repeatedly in the voluminous filings before the court,...

Senator McCain told reporters this morning that he would vote yes on California Proposition 22, the so-called knight Initiative, which is on the California ballot on March 7. ...McCain said he would "vote yes" on the measure if he was a California voter, adding that "this is consistent with my psoition in opposition to same-sex marriage."

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- The California Supreme Court unanimously agreed yesterday to decide whether the state's ban on same-sex "marriage" violates a constitutional ban on discrimination, though an outcome is not likely until late next year. The justices are reviewing an October decision by the 1st District Court of Appeal, which ruled that California marriage laws do not discriminate because homosexual couples can get most rights the state confers to married couples. Massachusetts is the only state that authorizes same-sex "marriage." California offers domestic partnerships, similar to civil unions in Vermont and Connecticut. San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom authorized homosexual...

SAN FRANCISCO Whether gays and lesbians have the right to marry in California moved to the state's highest court Monday, a month after an appeals court ruled against same-sex marriage. The city of San Francisco filed the appeal to the California Supreme Court, claiming that laws authorizing only heterosexual marriages are unconstitutional discrimination. A lower court had agreed, but an appeals court last month reversed that decision. The 1st District Court of Appeal ruled that, among other things, it was not the judiciary's role to define marriage as 61 percent of California voters in 2000 declared marriage as a union...

The 1st District Court of Appeal in San Francisco ruled today that California's marriage laws banning same-sex marriage do not violate the constitutional rights of gays and lesbians.

SAN FRANCISCO — Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said Wednesday his movie-star celebrity and his boundless enthusiasm for all things California make him a great international salesman for the state's products and services. Speaking to the Commonwealth Club of California at the Herbst Theater, the governor said he will go anywhere to tout California's wares, "to go out there and tell our story" to buyers in any nation. "They want our products, they need our environmental know-how ... and our state-of-the-art technology." Democratic gubernatorial candidate Phil Angelides' campaign Wednesday issued a pre-emptive memo outlining Schwarzenegger's foreign-trade failures: fewer exports now than in...

San Francisco, CA - Today, Liberty Counsel Founder and Chairman Mathew D. Staver will present oral argument before the California Court of Appeals in San Francisco in defense of the state's marriage laws. Liberty Counsel represents Campaign for California Families, a public policy group that supports marriage as a union between one man and one woman. The Campaign was involved in the passage of a statewide legislative initiative known as Proposition 22, which passed in 2000 by a vote of 61.4%, and declared that marriage is a union of one man and one woman. Proposition 22 is a legislative rather...

Advocates of same-sex marriage in the Golden State are hoping to go directly to voters to make changes in the state constitution, deleting all references to gender in marriage law and nixing provisions of Prop 22, which declared marriage in California was strictly between one man and one woman. The Organization for Fairness and Equality has turned paperwork into Attorney General Bill Lockyer to initiate the signature-gathering process for the proposal. The group is confident state voters will think differently about same-sex marriage than does Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who vetoed a bill last year that would have legalized the practice....

SAN FRANCISCO - Despite a tradition of promoting gay rights, California has long had a conflicted approach to same-sex marriage and it's one that is expected to become even more pronounced in the months ahead thanks to a pair of overlapping voter initiatives. Fearing that courts ultimately will support the rights of gays to marry, opponents want to place before voters an initiative to amend the state Constitution so only heterosexual unions would be valid. But in typical California fashion, the initiative drive for 2006 already has grown contentious and confusing.A rare rift among conservatives has led competing groups to...

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has confirmed he will veto a bill endorsing gay marriages. State legislators voted on Tuesday to allow same-sex marriage in California, but the governor said the decision flew in the face of public opinion. Five years ago Californians backed a proposition opposing the recognition of gay marriages in other states. "We cannot have a system where the people vote and the legislature derails that vote," said the governor's office. "Out of respect for the will of the people, the governor will veto," said Mr Schwarzenegger's press secretary, Margita Thompson. 'Sold out' Proposition 22, approved in a...

IN PASSING a law to legalize same-sex marriages, Democrats in the Legislature sent a clear message to California voters: You don't count. And I say that as someone who was in the minority in 2000. I voted against Proposition 22, an initiative that outlawed same-sex marriage, but 61 percent of state voters supported the measure. On the one hand, it was courageous for Democrats -- only Dems, but not all Dems, voted for the same-sex marriage bill introduced by Assemblyman Mark Leno, D-San Francisco -- to ignore the will of the voters and vote their conscience. But the vote also...

NEWS ANALYSIS: Opponents of bill say it contradicts ballot measure passed in 2000. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's decision Wednesday to veto a historic same-sex marriage bill was based on the plain language of a ballot measure that Californians passed 5 1/2 years ago. Proposition 22, approved by 61 percent of the voters in March 2000, declared, in full: "Only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California.'' Because it was passed by initiative, it can't be amended without another public vote, under state constitutional rules that protect the public's right to make laws at the ballot...

The California legislature became the first elected body in the US to approve gay marriage, passing the bill in the Assembly 41-35 and setting up a conundrum for Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. The bill defies a vote from five years ago, when Californians overwhelmingly voted to approve a measure which specified that marriage should remain between one man and one woman: The bill's supporters compared the legislation to earlier civil rights campaigns, including efforts to eradicate slavery and give women the right to vote. "Do what we know is in our hearts," said the bill's sponsor, San Francisco Democrat Mark Leno....

ACTION: Click here to call, fax and email your state legislators and Governor Schwarzenegger to protect marriage licenses! VOTEYESMARRIAGE.COM BLASTS AB 849, THE DEMOCRAT POLITICIANS’ SAME-SEX ‘MARRIAGE’ BILL Sacramento – The VoteYesMarriage.com coalition, which is aiming to put a state constitutional amendment on next year’s ballot to protect marriage rights for one man and one woman, is blasting a high-profile bill that would delete a man and a woman from California marriage law. AB 849, which would require all California counties to issue “gay marriage” licenses, is on the floor of the California State Senate. If passed this week, it...

Measure to ban gay marriage released Sponsors tiff with attorney general over amendment's wording California's attorney general on Monday released a summary of a proposed constitutional amendment that highlights how the measure would strip same-sex couples of most domestic partner rights while also banning gay marriage. The preparation of an official circulating title and language for the amendment means opponents of same-sex marriage may now begin gathering the 598,105 signatures they need to qualify the measure for the June 2006 ballot. But the amendment's official sponsors Randy Thomasson of the Campaign for Children and Families, former Assemblyman Larry Bowler and...

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Gays and lesbians won a major legal victory Wednesday when the California Supreme Court let stand a new law granting registered domestic partners many of the same rights and protections of heterosexual marriage. Without comment, the unanimous justices upheld appellate and trial court rulings that the sweeping measure does not conflict with a voter-approved initiative defining marriage as a union between a man and a woman. Justice Janice Rogers Brown, who leaves Thursday to join the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, did not vote. The domestic partner law, which was signed in...

Sacramento -- Leaders of a newly formed coalition of faith-based and conservative political organizations said Wednesday they will work to place a constitutional amendment before voters to define marriage as an institution between a man and a woman. The announcement by the group, ProtectMarriage.com, came a day after AB19, a bill to make the state's definition of marriage gender-neutral, cleared the first of two committees it must pass to reach a floor vote in the state Assembly.

Sacramento -- San Francisco Assemblyman Mark Leno introduced legislation to legalize same-sex marriage Monday, opening another front in the debate -- nationwide and within the Democratic Party -- over how far to extend gay rights. Five weeks after voters in 11 states adopted constitutional amendments defining marriage as solely between a man and woman, Leno is convinced that a majority of Californians favor bucking that trend. There is opposition to the idea among moderate Democrats, however, and a counter to Leno's push was also introduced Monday, the first day of the legislative session. Two Republican lawmakers introduced a bill that...

New Brunswick MP Rob Moore's private member's bill (Bill C-268) is similar to two previous bills that have come before Parliament in the past decade asking for a vote in support of the traditional definition of marriage. The first bill passed easily and the second one was defeated by only five votes. The result of a third vote is hard to predict following the Liberal's electoral losses. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Liberals wanted avoid the issue for as long as possible, so the House of Commons Procedure and House Affairs Committee has declared that Bill C-268 is 'non-votable'. As Moore accurately...

May 17 was, in the words of Ron Crews of the Massachusetts Family Institute, “a day of mourning.” For on that day, Massachusetts officials began marrying man to man, and woman to woman. Those who brought about this state of affairs claim to believe in “equality” and to be “democrats,” but in fact are elites who will have nothing of equality, let alone democracy. Five elite groups brought about same-sex marriage, which is however not an unalterable condition: Activist judges, the establishment media, ultraliberal elected officials, gay activist organizations and the homosexual activist, “shadow government.” In the Supreme Court’s June...

"... same-sex marriage has advanced so far as an issue that even Republicans like Knight, a senator from Palmdale, seem to be changing their minds. In 2000, California voters overwhelmingly approved Knight’s Proposition 22, which said the state would recognize only marriages between a man and a woman. Knight once wouldn’t even consider civil unions and expanded rights for domestic partners, but now he’s willing to compromise--under certain conditions. Since Proposition 22 passed in 2000, he's seen its power erode--most notably when his gay son recently got married in San Francisco. Today, Knight says he might be willing to accept...

Lockyer: SF officials violated separation of powers in gay marriages By: LISA LEFF - Associated Press SAN FRANCISCO -- Attorney General Bill Lockyer told the California Supreme Court Thursday that in issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples, San Francisco authorities violated the separation of powers doctrine by assuming for themselves "more power than the Governor, or the Supreme Court, or the Legislature." The seven justices are considering whether San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom had the legal authority to direct his administration to sanction marriages of gay and lesbians even though the state's Family Code in at least three places defines...

<p>San Francisco officials went on the attack Thursday in their fight over same-sex weddings, suing the state on the grounds that laws defining marriage as between a man and woman illegally discriminate against gays and lesbians.</p> <p>In bringing the Superior Court suit, officials also tried to gain an edge over anti-gay marriage forces by naming as defendants the two groups that have sued the city, the Proposition 22 Legal Defense and Education Fund and Campaign for California Families.</p>

Move to reverse gay couples' rights law fails Ballot measure doesn't get enough signatures. SACRAMENTO A sparse crowd supporting expanded rights for gay and lesbian domestic partners celebrated the demise Monday of a proposed 2004 ballot measure to overturn landmark new protections passed this year. About 25 people rallied on the Capitol steps to claim victory over opponents who failed to gather more than 373,000 signatures needed by Dec. 21 for a public vote next year. “Our whole lives have been a fight,’ said Carole Migden, a California Board of Equalization member, and former state Assemblywoman who pioneered earlier state...

<p>A California judge has ruled that the state can begin implementing its sweeping domestic partnership law next month, despite legal protests that the new law illegally creates same-sex "marriage."</p> <p>Sacramento Superior Court Judge Thomas Cecil's decision Thursday was hailed as a victory by homosexual rights groups. But traditional values groups, which are suing to block the new law, were heartened that Judge Cecil did not throw out their case altogether.</p>

Massachusetts Brings Thankfulness Marriage doesn't need redefining, it needs protection... [Eric Hogue] 11/28/03 The Massachusetts Supreme Court ruling on gay marriage, should give marriage defenders in California reason to be thankful during this thankful week of thankfulness and family celebration. Hang-on, I’ll explain in a moment, but first the gut wrenching reality that has become our rogue judiciary.  Every immoral slide created in California creeps east, swallowing the rest of the country.  From this state’s ‘belly of the beast’, to the nation’s beltway, the ‘immoral Blob’ slowly decays every pillar of common sense and foundational reference of righteousness as it...