Calif. Senate votes to legalize gay marriage

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Calif. Senate votes to legalize gay marriage

By Jenny O'Mara

Thu Sep 1, 4:25 PM ET

 

SACRAMENTO, California (Reuters) - The California

Senate voted on Thursday to allow gay marriage, giving

an initial legislative boost to one of the state's

most contentious issues.

 

The Democrat-dominated Senate voted 21-15 in favor of

making marriage in California " gender-neutral, " thus

open to couples of the same sex. All Senate

Republicans and one Democrat opposed the measure.

 

The legislation now advances to the California

Assembly, where legislators say the measure will have

a more difficult time gaining enough votes for

passage. The Assembly killed a gay marriage bill in

June.

 

Even if backers were to gain enough votes there,

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who has

expressed past opposition to gay marriage, could veto

the measure.

 

" My fellow members, gay and lesbian people fall in

love, we settle down, we commit our lives to one

another, " said Democratic Senator Sheila Kuehl of

Santa Monica, who is gay.

 

" If our goal is to teach our children to model

self-respect, is it not counter productive to dishonor

them and their parents or their families? Fellow

members this is a bill whose time has come. "

 

In the debate, Republican Senator Dennis Hollingsworth

cited what he called a " higher power " in his

opposition.

 

" I don't think there's a member in this chamber who

doesn't somewhere either readily on the surface or

somewhere deep down inside know that this is not the

right thing to do, " he said.

 

" You have to ask, where does that come from? I believe

that comes from a higher power that put that knowledge

in you. That higher power is also the higher power

that created the institution of marriage. "

 

California law sets a traditional definition of

marriage as a union of man and woman although the

state does allow domestic partnerships for gay

couples, providing them many rights extended to

married heterosexuals.

 

The nation's most populous state became a prime

battleground in the gay marriage debate when San

Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom allowed more than 4,000

homosexual couples to wed last year, until that was

halted by court order.

 

As in many other U.S. states, a legal fight over

same-sex marriage is also underway in California

courts, where experts say legal resolution may not

come for years.

 

 

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