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California Senate OKs Gay Marriages; Vote Sets Stage for Assembly Fight

Posted on: Friday, 2 September 2005, 15:00 CDT

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - The state Senate approved legislation Thursday that would legalize same-sex marriage in California, a vote that makes the chamber the first legislative body in the country to approve a gay marriage bill.

The 21-15 vote sets the stage for a showdown next week in the California Assembly, which narrowly rejected a gay marriage bill in June.

"Equality is equality, period," said one of the bill's supporters, Democratic Sen. Liz Figueroa. "When I leave this Legislature, I want to be able to tell my grandchildren I stood up for dignity and rights for all."

Massachusetts became the first state to recognize gay marriages when the state Supreme Court legalized same-sex weddings there in 2003. That prompted a number of states across the nation to pass constitutional amendments banning gay marriage. Other states offer civil unions, which provide many of the same legal benefits without the status of marriage.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's office had no comment Thursday on how the governor would respond if the bill reached his desk.

The bill's author, Democratic Assemblyman Mark Leno, said he expected a vote in the Assembly on Tuesday.

"We are so very close," he said.

California already confers many of the rights and duties of marriage on gay couples, who can register as domestic partners.

The Senate vote came as a state appellate court is considering appeals of a San Francisco judge's March ruling overturning California laws banning recognition of gay marriages.

Source: Record, The; Bergen County, N.J.

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