Search for legislation SACRAMENTO - The state Assembly on Tuesday voted to allow gay couples to marry in a challenge to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who has said he would veto the bill if it passes the full Legislature. Lawmakers approved the measure on a party-line vote, with the majority saying the Legislature should not wait for the state Supreme Court to act on the issue.
"This does in fact provide equal marriage rights for all citizens of California," bill author Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, said as he began what became the lengthiest debate so far this year on the Assembly floor - 90 minutes. "By denying a group of individuals the right to marry, we denigrate that entire group and deny them citizenship." The bill now goes to the Senate, which adopted a similar measure in 2005.
In his veto at that time, Schwarzenegger wrote that a gay-marriage bill would violate Proposition 22, an initiative passed by California voters in 2000 that bars the state from recognizing out-of-state, same-sex marriages. In February, the Republican governor told a group of high school students that he would veto Leno's bill again. Schwarzenegger spokesman Aaron McLear said Tuesday that the governor had not taken a stand on the bill, but "his position on the issue has been consistent: He supports the will of the people who voted on this.
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