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TechnoratiCalifornia Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed a same-sex "marriage" bill on Friday, giving pro-family groups a second win in the battle to protect traditional marriage in the state.
The measure, if signed, would have defined marriage as a union between "two persons" rather than a man and a woman, granting homosexual couples the same rights and benefits as married heterosexual couples. Schwarzenegger said voters and the state Supreme Court, not lawmakers, should decide the issue.
Schwarzenegger turned down a similar bill in 2005.
Gay rights advocates denounced the veto and accused the governor of hypocrisy.
"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," said Geoff Kors, executive director of Equality California, a gay rights group, according to The Associated Press.
In his veto message, Schwarzenegger wrote that Californians "should not be discriminated against based upon their sexual orientation."
The governor expressed continued support for domestic partnership rights and said Friday that he would continue to "vigorously" defend and enforce those rights.
The California Supreme Court is likely to decide next year on the constitutionality of Proposition 22, which defines marriage between a man and a woman and bans homosexual "marriage."
Schwarzenegger said it is up to the state Supreme Court and then, if necessary, voters to alter Prop. 22.
Pro-family groups have stated earlier that Californians already and clearly decided on the issue of same-sex "marriage when they passed the ban in 2000, which was to protect traditional marriage.
Although the majority of voters passed Prop. 22, Kors said voters have changed their stance over the years and polls indicate California is nearly equally split on the issue now. According to a poll last year by the Policy Institute California, 48 percent oppose homosexual "marriage" – down from 55 percent in 2000 – and 46 percent express support.
Kors' pro-gay group is currently running a multi-million-dollar TV advertising campaign throughout California to sway undecided voters toward support for same-sex "marriage."
While pro-family groups applauded Schwarzenegger’s veto Friday, they are still disappointed over two bills signed the week before. One of the bills, SB 777, bans teacher instruction or school activity that promotes a discriminatory bias because of gender of sexual orientation, while the other, AB 394, requires each school district to have a process to investigate "harassment" or "discrimination" incidents.
Conservatives argue that the measures will ban any moral viewpoint contrary or unfavorable to the homosexual, bisexual and transgender lifestyles and demand that they be portrayed as normal and acceptable. They further argue that these alternative sexual lifestyles will be promoted "under the guise of 'safety'" and, through increased exposure, will normalize them in front of young children.
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