Gay marriage bans
die in California legislature

Committees in the California assembly and senate on Tuesday rejected proposed constitutional amendments that would ban same-sex marriages and strip away a long list of rights granted to domestic partners in recent years. Conservative groups immediately said they would try to gather enough signatures to put an initiative banning same-sex marriage on the ballot in 2006. "This disturbing display of arrogance against marriage and the voters means average Californians must take matters into their own hands," said Randy Thomasson, president of the Campaign for Children and Families. But Sen. Sheila Kuehl, the first openly gay person elected to the California legislature, predicted that supporters of same-sex marriage would eventually win. "This is about America, the place where no civil rights movement has ever failed," the Santa Monica Democrat said. "I don't think this is going to fail either." The assembly judiciary committee voted 6-3 to turn down an amendment by Republican assemblyman Ray Haynes. Hours later, the senate judiciary committee voted 5-2 against an identical measure by Republican senator Bill Morrow. The votes came despite claims that the proposals would strengthen the intent of voters who approved Proposition 22 five years ago. That ballot measure was designed to prevent California from recognizing same-sex marriages performed elsewhere. Other laws ban same-sex marriages from taking place in California. "When the people said...that marriage could be between a man and a woman, they knew exactly what they were talking about," Haynes said. "The words were clear. The meaning was clear. The intention was clear." He said the legislature and the courts had "eviscerated" the meaning of Proposition 22 and made up legal arguments to determine it was unconstitutional. "You cannot grant domestic partners the benefits of marriage and then hide your eyes and say that doesn't violate Proposition 22," he added. Opponents of the amendments said that during the campaign fight over the ballot measure, Proposition 22 supporters denied that it was an attempt to repeal domestic partners' rights. "This [constitutional amendment] will do nothing to protect a single family," said Geoffrey Kors, executive director of Equality California. "What it will do is rip away protections that families now have [and] leave children without health insurance, leave couples without any legal recourse to protect themselves." Since 1999 the legislature has approved a series of bills recognizing domestic partnerships and granting partners most of the rights given married couples, including the right to sue for wrongful death of a partner and to adopt a partner's child. Democratic assemblyman Lloyd Levine said the Haynes amendment amounted to "legalizing discrimination." "The fact is plain and simple," he said. "There is a group of people who, for whatever reason, do not like gays and cannot tolerate the idea of two women sleeping together or two men sleeping together. To put that into the constitution...is simply unconscionable." But Haynes said to call the amendment discrimination "is to take the word and turn it on its ear. The essence of this [amendment] says that any man, regardless of [his] sexual orientation, can marry any woman, regardless of her sexual orientation. There is no discrimination on them." He said the amendment would still allow domestic partners--which can include same-sex couples as well as older, unmarried heterosexuals--some rights, including hospital visitation rights. He also contended the amendment would restrict benefits and rights granted by the state and would not prohibit a company from giving health insurance coverage to the domestic partners of its employees. But Democratic assemblyman Dave Jones disagreed. "There's no language that limits that to the state," he said. Tuesday's hearings came two weeks after the assembly judiciary committee approved a bill by gay Democratic assemblyman Mark Leno of San Francisco that would allow same-sex marriage. The hearings also followed a ruling by a San Francisco judge striking down the state's bans on same-sex marriage as unconstitutional. (AP)