Schwarzenegger Vetoes
Gay Marriage
By STEVE LAWRENCE. AP
from the Web, October 13, 2007
SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Gov.
Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed another gay marriage bill Friday, saying voters and
the state Supreme Court, not lawmakers, should decide the issue.
The Republican governor turned down a measure by Assemblyman Mark Leno that
would have defined marriage as a union between two people, not just a man and a
woman. Schwarzenegger vetoed a similar bill from Leno, a San Francisco
Democrat, in 2005 and has said he would veto all such bills.
The California Supreme Court is likely to rule next year on whether the state's
voter-approved ban on gay marriage violates the constitution.
Schwarzenegger said in his veto message that Californians "should not be
discriminated against based upon their sexual orientation." He said he
supports state laws that give domestic partners many of the rights and
responsibilities of marriage.
Geoff Kors, executive director of Equality California, a gay rights group, said
the veto was "hypocrisy at its worst."
"We find it shocking for the governor to say he opposes discrimination based on
sexual orientation and then veto a bill that would have ended discrimination
based on sexual orientation," Kors said.
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