Supporters hope
California senate will refuel marriage drive

Rebuffed by the state assembly, gay marriage advocates in California are hoping to revive their campaign this week by moving to the other side of the state capitol. After a bill legalizing same-sex marriage fell four votes short in June in the assembly, supporters appended the defeated measure to a marine research bill that already had passed the assembly and was awaiting a hearing in the state senate. That revised legislation, by Assemblyman Mark Leno, is scheduled to be considered Tuesday by the senate's judiciary committee. If the bill gets through the senate, it will go back to the assembly for a final vote, giving supporters another chance to send it to the governor's desk before lawmakers wrap up their 2005 session in September. "I think it's important not to give up because a bill failed by a few votes," said Sen. Sheila Kuehl, one of six gay members of the legislature. "It's simply a procedural way to keep the language of the bill alive." Kuehl said there is a "lot of acceptance of the bill in the senate," although senators haven't been faced with voting on the issue before. "We have always believed it's an equal rights question and a civil rights question," she said. "The senate has been very good about these issues, but this is something that individual members have not thought about. We'll have to have that discussion." (AP)