Arnold will veto the gay marriage bill. I am disappointed but I knew he would and his reasoning is sound.
“We cannot have a system where the people vote and the Legislature derails that vote,” the governor’s press secretary, Margita Thompson, said in a statement.
With Prop. 22 still on the books (it defines marriage as a union between a man and woman and passed by 61% in 2000) there really was little choice.
Even though opinion polls are showing a shift in sentiment on gay marriage, nothing has been done to change the law and this all would have ended up in court anyway. Mark Leno, the State Assemblyman that put together and got this passed, did a great thing - too early. Prop. 22 is before the courts now and he should have waited for the outcome. If the courts reaffirmed Prop. 22, then he should have put a ballot measure up repealing it. Had the court struck it down, it would have cleared the way for Arnold to sign the bill. Whether he would have is another question but he would have been hard-pressed to come up with a reason not to.
Doing things the right way is a major pain in the ass sometimes, but things worth doing are seldom easy.One good thing did come of this though. The California State Legislature passed a bill approving gay marriage. The first in the history of this nation and, I dare say, it will not be the last time either.
**UPDATE**
Of course, some people would prefer to take the easy way and just allow the legislature to say “f-off” to the people that put them there to do the people’s will.
Mark J Says:
Isn’t that the whole point of representative Democracy, though? The representatives are free to tell their constituents to screw off, and the constituents are free to make sure that they never serve in office again, if they feel slighted by it.
Also, popular opinion is changing quickly. It’s been 5 years since Prop 22 passed. Some of the newer polls are showing that the 61% majority might soon be a minority. It’s also worth noting that the people who show up to vote against gay rights aren’t necessarily the same people who normally show up and elect their representatives. I think that politicians tend to act in their own self interest. Any politician who willfully snubs the people who put him or her into office can’t really expect their political career to last much longer.