Valley leaders react to veto of gay marriage bill

Valley Press on . ^ | Saturday, October 1, 2005 | LISA WAHLA HOWARD

[BenLurkin]

Republican Assemblywoman Sharon Runner praised Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger for vetoing a gay marriage bill, while the leader of the Antelope Valley's Democratic Club said the move shows he "doesn't have the courage." Lynda von Husen, president of the Democratic Club of the High Desert, said she wasn't surprised by Schwarzenegger's Thursday veto, which he forecast Sept. 7.

"He simply doesn't have the courage to stand up to those who oppose it," von Husen said of Schwarzenegger, whom she called "hugely unpopular."

Schwarzenegger said the bill by Assemblyman Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, contradicted Proposition 22, which was approved by voters in 2000 and defined marriage as being only between a man and a woman.

"This bill simply adds confusion to a constitutional issue," Schwarzenegger said in a veto message.

The governor said the state Constitution barred the Legislature from enacting a law allowing gay marriage without another vote of the people - and Leno's bill wouldn't provide for that vote.

Schwarzenegger noted that a state appeals court was considering whether the state's ban on gay marriage was constitutional and that the issue would likely be decided by the California Supreme Court.

Von Husen agreed with Schwarzenegger that the courts should be allowed to decide the issue: "Until that happens, any gay marriage bill passed by the Legislature will be opportunistically spun by Republicans to increase anti-Democrat sentiment throughout the state."

The Leno bill, which would alter the definition of marriage by allowing the state to recognize two men or two women as legally wed, passed by slim majorities in both the Assembly and the Senate on party-line votes.

Runner, a Lancaster Republican, joined her colleagues in voting against the bill.

"Gov. Schwarzenegger fulfilled his promise to veto this attempt to radically redefine marriage in California," she said.

"The governor sided with the people of this state, who thought they had settled this issue for good when they voted overwhelmingly to define marriage as the union of one man and one woman.

"Republicans respect the decisions made by the voters of this state, including their decision to maintain marriage as a union between a man and a woman."

Leno, who is one of six openly gay state lawmakers, said Schwarzenegger had missed a historic opportunity to stand up for civil rights.

"He cannot claim to support fair and equal legal protection for same-sex couples and veto the very bill that would have provided it to them," Leno said. "Words are cheap. We're looking for action. We're looking for leadership."

[BenLurkin]

Leave it to the lefties to not understand what courage really means.

[calrighty]

....or morals or ethics or....

[gidget7]

Kudos to Arnold! The people voted, and he stopped the attack through the back door to get this through anyway.

Anyone thinking this is not a slippery slope, should just look around the country and the world a bit. Recently Dutch courts allowed for marriage between 3 people. While there has been some progress on this front, a lot more needs to be done. These loony lefties must be stopped!

only 6 homosexuals in CA legislature?? That's surprising, and they should be voted out. They shouldn't have been elected in the first place. Perhaps it's like MA, where they are appointed by like minded progressives, and elections corrupted to that end.