Clerk protests gay marriage ban
Jim Sanders, Sacramento Bee
February 2, 2007

In a slap at California's ban on gay marriage, the elected official who oversees civil marriages in Yolo County will distribute "certificates of inequality" to same-sex couples on Valentine's Day.

Freddie Oakley, Yolo's clerk-recorder, said she designed the certificates herself as a way to ease her soul over having to deny marriage licenses to gays and lesbians.

"We don't discriminate against people on the basis of age, or health, or disability, or race, or ethnicity, or religion, but we do on the basis of gender in this matter," she said. "I feel it's inappropriate."

Oakley's "certificate of inequality" claims that California wrongly deprives gays and lesbians of the right to marry.

"I issue this Certificate of Inequality to you because your choice of marriage partner displeases some people whose displeasure is, apparently, more important than principles of equality," it reads.

Gay marriage has prompted long, heated political fights nationwide.

The constitutionality of California's current law banning gay marriage is pending before the state Supreme Court.

Assemblyman Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, recently reintroduced legislation to legalize gay marriage after Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed the idea in 2005.

Critics blasted Oakley for planning to distribute from a public building -- her Woodland office -- a document that criticizes state law.

"The people pay government officials to implement the law and to faithfully execute the law ... not to ridicule the law and perform stunts that advocate the overthrow of marriage," said Randy Thomasson, president of Campaign for Children and Families, which lobbies on social issues.

Thomasson accused the Yolo clerk of violating her oath of office to "well and faithfully discharge the duties" of a county clerk.

Oakley will distribute the certificate on Feb. 14 in conjunction with an annual event, "Freedom to Marry Day," in which same-sex couples appear at county clerks' offices nationwide seeking to marry.

Oakley said there is no "governmental virtue" to the state's ban on gay marriage, passed by voters nearly seven years ago as Proposition 22.

Turning same-sex couples away without marriage licenses, Oakley said, makes her feel "like a good German, in the Third Reich, who enforced bad laws."

The certificate ends with Oakley's name, title and words of encouragement to same-sex couples: "May the God of your choice bless you."

Oakley, a married mother of two, said no tax dollars were spent on the certificate and that it reflects her own personal view -- not that of Yolo County supervisors.

An elected official, Oakley said she printed about 50 of the certificates and has a constitutional right to distribute them.

"I don't give up my right to exercise the First Amendment by assuming county office," she said.

The certificate contains a disclaimer that describes it as an "unofficial document intended to provoke thought and having absolutely no force of law."

Shelly Bailes, a Davis gay activist who is organizing Yolo's Freedom to Marry Day, applauded Oakley's certificate.

"I feel it's very comforting because we are not treated equally -- and the more people that realize that, the better off we are," Bailes said.

"I believe that every public official has to stand up for what they feel is right," she said.

Leno, one of five openly gay legislators, praised Oakley for reaching out.

"Bless her heart," he said. "As a matter of conscience, she cannot sit silent as she denies people what we all know is their basic human right."

Geoff Kors, executive director of Equality California, which is sponsoring Leno's gay marriage bill, Assembly Bill 43, said Oakley is taking an important stand.

"She's sworn to uphold the state and federal constitutions that provide for equal protection," Kors said. "But at this point, she's unable to do that."

Stephen Weir, who is Contra Costa County clerk-recorder and leader of the California Association of Clerks and Election Officials, said he won't second-guess another elected official but that he personally would not distribute such a certificate.

"I don't feel I'm in a position to take stands on issues that come before our office where the Legislature, the courts and to a degree my Board of Supervisors are the entities that set policy," said Weir, who said he is gay and supports gay marriage.

Assemblyman Doug La Malfa, R-Oroville, said Oakley's action may be free speech, but it's inappropriate nonetheless.

"If I was a Yolo County supervisor, or whatever, I would ask her to do this on her own time and not out of her office," he said.

Yolo County Supervisor Matt Rexroad said he opposes gay marriage but feels Oakley has a right to distribute the certificate.

"She's an elected official making a political statement -- and elected officials do that from time to time," Rexroad said.

Secretary of State Debra Bowen said she sees no legal problem with Oakley's action, but that voters will have the final say at the ballot box.

"If the voters in Yolo County don't like it, they have a remedy," she said.