MARCH 13 . 2004 • Q-NOTES
Legal
15
Schwarzenegger supports gay marriage?
let the people decide' —
California governor says he's against
marriage amendment and ok with
same-sex marnage
by Donald Miller
LOS ANGELES, Calif. — Republican
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, one of
the nation’s most recognized and popular
Republican elected officials, announced on
“The Tonight Show”
Mar. I that he did not
support the discrim
inatory Federal Mar
riage Amendment re
cently endorsed by
President George W.
Bush.
Schwarzenegger
said gay marriage
would be “fine with
me” if it were en
shrined in state law
or ruled legal by the courts. Host )ay Leno
asked, '‘Would you have any problem if
they changed the law?” the governor
replied: “No, 1 don’t have a problem. Let
the court decide. Let the people decide.”
Assemblyman Mark Leno (D-San
Francisco) has introduced a bill in the leg
islature to allow gays and lesbians to obtain
marriage licenses and Schwarzenegger’s
remarks arc seen as an endorsement.
Pressed about Proposition 22, which is
broadly interpreted as limiting marriage to
Schwarzenegger
on gay marriage:
'fine with me.'
a man and a woman, Schwarzenegger
indicated he would be supportive of moves
to repeal the contentious law.
“If the people change their minds and
they want to overrule that, that’s fine
with me.”
Given Schwarzenegger’s earlier state
ments on the matter, his latest sentiments
are an unusual development.
During a Feb. 22 appearance on NBC’s
“Meet the Press,” he said of the scene in
San Francisco, “We see riots and we see
protests and we see people clashing. The
next thing we know is there are injured or
dead people, and we don’t want to have
that.”
A little reading between the lines might
indicate that Schwarzenegger is playing
some political word games, but gay rights
organizations arc praising his latest state
ments nevertheless.
“The governor demonstrated that he
will stand up to President Bush and the
extreme right-wing in their effort to destroy
lesbian and gay families,” says Geoffrey
Kors, executive director of Equality
California (EC).
According to EC, Schwarzenegger has
demonstrated his understanding of the
separation of power between the branches
of government by noting that he would not
have a problem if the court ruled that the
California Constitution requires same-sex
marriage. This was further evidenced by
indicating that he would also not object if
the people’s elected representatives
reversed a 1977 law enacted by the legis
lature, that removed the gender-neutral
language from the relevant marriage
statutes. This law was not affected by
Proposition 22 that was designed to prevent
California from being forced to recognize
marriages between same-sex couples per
formed in other states.
“Second class citizenship is something
that our community will not settle for and
we now have reason to believe that the
governor will not object if the courts or the
legislature overturn the discriminatory
marriage laws and make us full and equal
members of the California family,” Kors
continues. “Equality California will be
inviting the governor to come meet our
members who are now married so he can
learn firsthand the harm that can result
because domestic partnerships, while
extremely important, do not provide equal
rights and protections for lesbian and gay
couples and their children. If he is willing
to speak with the families that this issue
impacts, we believe he will be one of the
growing numbers of Californians who sup
port ending discrimination in the issuance of
marriage licenses by government officials.”
Not surprisingly, California conserva
tives expressed outrage at the governor.
The author of Proposition 22, Republican
state Sen. William “Pete” Knight, called
Schwarzenegger’s comments “shocking”
and vowed to stop any attempt to either
pass legislation allowing same-sex mar
riage or repealing Proposition 22.
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