Dear Governor Schwarzenegger,
In July of 2007 I wrote to you to ask you to sign AB 43, the bill that was heading to your desk that would have ended the segregation of same-sex and opposite-sex marriages in our state. When you vetoed it, you gave a bunch of excuses, especially saying that you had to veto it, or you would be sued.
Well, now you’re being sued. Perry v. Schwarzenegger is hearing arguments tomorrow – broadcast to all the world – about whether you can enforce a law that breaks generations of a most sacred traditional value: that every citizen is entitled to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
You refused to step in to stop the Opponents of Equality from redefining equality in our state. You failed to protect me and my children from the tyranny of the majority. And you were a poor steward of the Constitution that generations of Californians used to define fairness and equality, from those that would take it away.
So we went over your head. Now the Federal courts will decide if you can reach into the population and carve out a group of people, and assign them different rights because of the way they were born or what they believe.
It is sad that it has come to this: it is much more important to have the majority of Californians support marriage equality than to have a law about it. You could have helped, but now you’re being sued. Hurray for justice.
Sincerely,