Schwarzenegger vetoes same-sex marriage bill
Susan Jones, CNSNews.com
September 30, 2005

Sacramento - California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has vetoed a same-sex marriage bill, AB 849, which deleted "a man and a woman" from California marriage law, replacing that phrase with "two persons."

The California Assembly voted 41-35 to send the bill to the governor earlier this month.

"We thank Governor Schwarzenegger for doing the right thing by vetoing 'gay marriage' licenses," said Randy Thomasson, president of Campaign for Children and Families, a group that lobbied against the bill.

But the fight isn't over, he said: "Long-term, there's no way to protect God's sacred institution of marriage for one man and one woman unless Californians qualify and pass the VoteYesMarriage.com initiative on next year's ballot," Thomasson added.

The Voters' Right to Protect Marriage Initiative will protect everything about marriage, Thomasson said, reserving marriage licenses, marriage rights, and all legal aspects of marriage for one man and one woman.

People For the American Way (PFAW) said it is "extremely disappointed" that Gov. Schwarzenegger "has chosen to ignore the will of the people" by keeping "discrimination" on the books in California.

Lorri Jean, chief executive officer of the L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center, accused Schwarzenegger of vetoing the bill to "appease right-wing extremists and other political special interests.

"Instead of seizing the opportunity to sign this historic bill, the governor terminated it, sacrificing our relationships, our families and our rights," Jean said. "At the same time, he issued a statement professing his belief that lesbian and gay couples are entitled to full protection under the law and should not be discriminated against."

Jean said the GLBT community "must turn our shock, sadness, indignation and anger into political action at the polls in November," by working to defeat proposed marriage amendments that would repeal legal protections for same-sex relationships.