Gay, Lesbian Marriage Bill Advances in California Assembly

[Ediacara]

Gay, Lesbian Marriage Bill Advances

By Robert Salladay, Times Staff Writer

SACRAMENTO — An Assembly committee approved legislation today that would legalize gay and lesbian marriage in California, marking the first time in history any lawmaking body in the country has sanctioned homosexual unions.

The Assembly Judiciary Committee, which is dominated by Democrats, approved the bill after a 90-minute hearing that featured a gay couple with their two fidgety children, a lesbian couple who first met on a blind date in 1972, lawyers and lawmakers, social conservatives and a mother who drove two hours with her four children to condemn the committee's actions as immoral.

Assembly bill AB 1967, which was introduced by Assemblyman Mark Leno (D-San Francisco), was adopted on an 8-3 vote. It states that two men or two women over 18 "are capable of consenting to and consummating marriage."

Despite today's victory, the bill is likely to face defeat if it goes before the full Assembly.

More at the Los Angeles Times

[arcane1]

1. "equal under law"

how hard is that for people to figure out? :shrug:

[David__77]

2. I'm not so sure about it being defeated.

There are enough progressives to pass it. There is a progressive majority in the both houses, especially in the senate. I think it could pass. But I suspect it won't come up for a vote on the floor due to "political considerations." Of course I support this legislation.

Several "moderate" Democrats would vote against it, but that doesn't mean it still couldn't pass if it came to a vote. Pro-marriage equality is the position of a large majority of Democrats in the legislature here, unlike in Massachusetts.