Posts tagged ‘AB 849’

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September 4th, 2007

Today’s letter – Since 2005, a lot has changed

Dear Governor Schwarzenegger -

A lot has changed since 2005, when you vetoed AB 849 saying that you want the people to decide who can access marriage in California.

  • More than 9,000 marriages have taken place in Massachusetts (and rather than the sky falling down, they won the World Series.)
  • A Republican-controlled congress failed a second attempt to amend the Constitution (and lost control of congress.)
  • California elected a new Assembly (and every member who voted for AB 849 was re-elected plus one.)
  • The parade of states passing DOMA amendments ground to a halt when Arizona voters rejected a ballot measure to ban same-sex marriage.
  • More Californians support gay marriage (48%) than oppose it (46%). (That means gay marriage has double the support of President Bush (24%).)

Clearly, the people are increasingly supportive of the freedom to marry, and the excuses for opposing it are running out. The moment you leave office gay couples in California will be able to choose marriage just like everybody else. As a lame-duck Governor who needs to weigh his legacy against his political aspirations, do you want to be on the side of freedom, or support the opponents of equality?

Please sign AB 43, the Religious Freedom and Civil Marriage Protection Act, this year so my family can choose the security and simplicity of marriage just like yours. The people have evolved – have you?

Moving forward,

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August 31st, 2007

Today’s letter – we need it either way

Dear Governor Schwarzenegger -

When you vetoed AB 849, the 2005 version of the Religious Freedom and Civil Marriage Protection Act, you concluded “If the ban of same-sex marriage is unconstitutional, this bill is not necessary. If the ban is constitutional, this bill is ineffective.”

With AB 43, the exact opposite is true. If the ban on same-sex couples from marriage is found to be unconstitutional, a bill like AB 43 would be necessary for marriages to commence. If the special ban is constitutional, this bill would be effective at changing a different part of the Family Code than the one currently being examined by the court.

The people will ultimately decide, and AB 43 is the prescription for doing that: a necessary and effective law that would end the ban preventing religious institutions from freely practicing their beliefs and stop the special exclusion of same-sex couples from choosing marriage. I wish you would sign this prescription for the health, safety and security of all California’s families.

Sincerely,

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August 30th, 2007

Today’s letter – Consider your counsel before you consider a veto

Dear Governor Schwarzenegger -

When you vetoed AB 849, the 2005 version of the Religious Freedom and Civil Marriage Protection Act, you said you “do not believe the Legislature can reverse an initiative approved by the people of California” on the advice of your Attorney General, Bill Lockyer.

I don’t know why this was relevant to AB 849. The bill would not have “reversed an initiative” but rather changed a 1977 law signed by your current Attorney General, Edmund “Jerry” Brown.

I am worried that your Attorney General’s office is biased against the freedom to marry. To defend the state’s position, the office wrote “the words ‘marry’ and ‘marriage’ have no essential significance under the California Constitution,” and that there are no differences between California’s registered domestic partners and married couples under state law.

If there are no differences, why does a different section of the Family Code apply to my family and yours? If there are no differences, why are they – and you – opposed to merging them through AB 43? The fact is that same-sex couples have been carved out for special denial of the basic security of marriage that everybody else – including you and your Attorney General – so blithely enjoy, because of a law that your Attorney General signed!

The lesbian and gay communities have joined with the religious communities to ask for the freedom to marry as they choose, while your Attorney General’s office is siding with the Opponents of Equality to defend a bad law from 1977 by mischaracterizing it as a voter initiative.

It is offensive to my sense of justice to have the Attorney General working harder for your personal protection than for the people of this state. Please sign AB 43 so we can get the Attorney General out of the business of deciding who should – and should not – have the freedom to marry.

Sincerely,

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