San Francisco – Less than 24 hours after California lawmakers narrowly passed the country’s first bill allowing same-sex marriages, a spokeswoman for Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said Wednesday that the governor would veto it “out of respect for the will of the people.”
The announcement brought an abrupt end to speculation throughout the day that Schwarzenegger, a Republican, might be persuaded to back the bill despite strong opposition to it in his own party.
The author of the measure, Assemblyman Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, said Democrats had been “using every resource available to us,” including reaching out to Sen. Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts, a relative of the governor, to win Schwarzenegger’s approval.
But even before the effort got in full swing, it was cut short.
The bill, which defines marriage as between “two persons,” won final legislative approval Tuesday night in the state Assembly after a coalition of gay, Latino and black groups fended off conservative opposition to it by framing the issue as one of civil rights, not religious values. It passed by a single vote in the state Senate last week.
In a n statement, Schwarzenegger’s spokeswoman, Margita Thompson, made a nod to the civil rights arguments but said the governor believed the bill was unconstitutional because of a ballot measure passed in 2000 that defined marriage as between a man and a woman.
“Five years ago, the matter of same-sex marriage was placed before the people of California,” Thompson said. “The people voted, and the issue is now before the courts. The governor believes the matter should be determined not by legislative action – which would be unconstitutional – but by court decision or another vote of the people of our state. We cannot have a system where the people vote and the Legislature derails that vote.”
Republican lawmakers voiced relief with the veto announcement after expressing anger and outrage over the vote Tuesday night and some anxiety throughout the day over Schwarzenegger’s silence on the subject. Members of the Republican caucus in the Assembly had written a letter to Schwarzenegger in the afternoon urging a veto.
“I am excited,” said Assemblywoman Sharon Runner, R-Lancaster, who voted against the bill and was among those who signed the letter. “I think it’s what the people want.”
Geoff Kors, a spokesman for Equality California, a gay and lesbian advocacy group, said supporters of the measure were “extremely disappointed” that Schwarzenegger decided to veto it “without meeting with us.” “We expect a very strong response from the community,” Kors said.
Schwarzenegger, who had 30 days to act on the bill, found himself caught between the conservative pull of his Republican Party and a broad coalition of minority groups and leaders who say the governor’s personal views on gay marriage are probably closer to their own.