Arnold Terminates Gay Marriage Legislation

Earlier on this blog, I reported on California’s passage of the Religious Freedom and Civil Marriage Protection Act which provides for a gender-neutral definition of marriage.  AB 849

Yesterday (September 29, 2005), Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed this legislation.  The following is from Schwarzenegger vetoes gay marriage bill, USA Today, Sept. 29, 2005:

Schwarzenegger said the bill by Democrat Mark Leno, an openly gay assemblyman from San Francisco, contradicted Proposition 22, which was approved by voters in 2000 and said only marriages between a man and woman are valid.

While a San Francisco Superior Court judge ruled that the ban is unconstitutional, Schwarzenegger noted that the case is before a state appeals court and will likely be decided by the California Supreme Court.

“If the ban of same-sex marriage is unconstitutional this bill is not necessary,” he said. “If the ban is constitutional this bill is ineffective.”