Gay-vows fight back in Senate
Josh Richman, Oakland Tribune
August 31, 2005

Sacramento -- A Bay Area lawmaker's controversial same-sex marriage bill might come to a state Senate floor vote as early as today, sparking a flurry of final lobbying.

Senate approval of AB 849 by Assemblyman Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, would mark the first time any U.S. state legislative house has voted for full-fledged, same-sex marriage. The bill would still need Assembly passage before going to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's desk.

"We think it'll be tomorrow or Thursday," Leno said Tuesday. "We want to make sure we have a full house of Democrats, because we might not have one to spare."

He and Equality California Executive Director Geoffrey Kors believe the bill will get 21 or 22 votes; it needs 21 to pass.

"It'll be a close vote, but I think we'll have a victory," Kors said.

The bill would change state law's definition of marriage from a civil contract "between a man and a woman" to "between two persons"; clergy opposed to same-sex marriage would not be forced to solemnize such vows.

Leno withdrew a similar bill in May 2004 when he saw it wouldn't pass. The bill fell four votes shy of a 41-vote Assembly majority this June. Leno thought he had tied up the final yeas in an 11th-hour burst of lobbying, but one lawmaker's sudden absence from the floor spooked a few others into balking.

Hoping a Senate win might help inspire the Assembly to pass it, Leno resurrected his legislation by gutting a fish-and-game bill and amending the same-sex marriage language into its shell. If the Senate passes it, the Assembly will have until Sept. 9 to act on it.

"We think we're making progress in the Assembly and have a realistic chance," Kors said, noting some members now feel emboldened after seeing no negative consequences for those who supported the bill in June.

Some moderate Assembly Democrats who did not support the bill in June ¡X particularly Latinos sharing with many constituents a faith-based aversion to same-sex marriage ¡X have seen Equality California do extensive public education and outreach in their districts this summer.

The United Farm Workers union endorsed thebill in late June, with UFW political director Christine Chavez ¡X granddaughter of founder Cesar Chavez ¡X signing on to aid Equality California's effort. And Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has agreed to call a few legislators when the time comes.

"We know this makes it very difficult for these members to vote against us ¡X this is the kind of pressure, the kind of support that will get us across the finish line," Leno said.

But Campaign for Children and Families president Randy Thomasson said Tuesday the volume of calls and e-mails urging senators to oppose the bill "has noticeably picked up in the last week ... We're generating heat upon them."

"Debra Bowen, Deborah Ortiz and Jackie Speier will definitely harm their chances for statewide office if they overturn California voters on something as sacred as marriage between a man and a woman," said Thomasson, naming Democratic senators running in 2006 for secretary of state, insurance commissioner and lieutenant governor, respectively. "This may play well politically in half of the Bay Area, but this rubs people the wrong way all over the rest of the state. It makes people mad."

Responded Leno: "I trust that my colleagues are searching their hearts and reading the Constitution as they decide their vote on this issue, not just the way the political winds are blowing. ... Democrats recognize this is a core Democratic value, and they're not afraid to stand by the Constitution in their pursuit of higher office."

Kors said he hopes Schwarzenegger will recognize the people's will being expressed through their elected lawmakers. Leno said Schwarzenegger is "very fair-minded" and "libertarian by nature," and he estimated a 50-50 chance the governor would sign the bill.

But Thomasson said the governor must honor the people's will as expressed by Proposition 22 of 2000, a statutory ban on recognition of same-sex marriage approved by 61 percent of voters.

Kors said conservatives' "pushback" against Leno's bill denotes the progress it's making.

As recently as two years ago, only about a dozen state lawmakers were on record favoring same-sex marriage, he said; the bill's passage by both houses would mean the dozen has expanded at least fivefold.

"That's going to be incredibly powerful, to have that leadership during the ballot fight that lies ahead."

Three proposed constitutional amendments now collecting petition signatures for placement on the June ballot would overrule the law Leno is trying to pass and would render moot a lawsuit ¡X now pending before the state Court of Appeal ¡X challenging the constitutionality of the state's existing statutory ban on same-sex marriage. Voters in 18 states have approved such amendments; five more states already have scheduled votes in 2005 and 2006.

If Leno's bill "passes even one house, that's going to help these marriage protection initiatives, that's for sure," Thomasson said.

While pushing for Leno's bill, Equality California has chalked up a series of wins on other bills in recent weeks.

One bill now awaiting Schwarzenegger's signature would bar businesses from discriminating against people based on sexual orientation and gender identity; another would bar use of "any negative appeal based on prejudice against gay and lesbian people" by candidates signing the Code of Fair Campaign Practices.

And the Assembly passed a bill Tuesday protecting domestic partners of public employees from losing state retirement benefits upon their partners' deaths. That bill now goes to the Senate.