|
The State of California dodged another radical, leftist bullet
with the defeat of AB 19 in the State Assembly. With AB 19, the
pro-gay crowd has proven once again that the law and the will of the
people are of little consequence when it comes to enacting their
radical, anti-family agenda. The bill, introduced in December 2004 by
Assemblyman Mark Leno (D-San Francisco), would have changed California
marriage law to make it "gender-neutral". Assemblyman Leno
does not seem to be concerned that California voters outlawed gay
marriage in 2000 with the approval of Proposition 22, which was passed
with a 2/3 majority. Additionally, the Assemblyman does not seem to be
concerned that statewide referendums such as Proposition 22 cannot be
overturned without the consent of state voters, according to Article
II, section 10(c) of the California State Constitution. Leno even goes
so far as to assert that AB 19 does not violate the state Constitution
at all with respect to Proposition 22 because, according to him, it
“was designed to prevent California from being forced to recognize
the marriages of same-sex couples who were married outside of
California” (emphasis added). 1
This is a blatant falsehood. California voters knew exactly what they
were voting for when they overwhelmingly passed Proposition 22. The Proposition was not designed to simply prevent the recognition
of out-of-state gay marriages, which were not legal anywhere in the
United States in 2000. The efforts of the Assemblyman are just another
example of the rampant elitism of a radical left that is even willing
to overturn the 2/3 vote of the California electorate.
Many thanks and
congratulations go out to those members of the California Assembly who
are on the record with “No” votes on AB 19!
The votes, as tabulated by Capitol
Resource Institute, are as follows:
Noes:
Aghazarian, Arambula, Baca, Benoit, Blakeslee, Bogh, Cogdill, Daucher,
De Vore, Emmerson, Garcia, Harman, Haynes, Shirley Horton, Houston,
Huff, Keene, La Malfa, La Suer, Leslie, Matthews, Maze, McCarthy,
Mountjoy, Nakanishi, Niello, Parra, Plescia, Sharon Runner, Spitzer,
Strickland, Tran, Vargas, Villines, Walters, and Wyland
Ayes: Bass, Berg, Bermudez, Calderon, Canciamilla, Chan, Chavez, Chu,
Cohn, Coto, De La Torre, Evans, Frommer, Goldberg, Hancock, Jones,
Karnette, Klehs, Koretz, Laird, Leno, Levine, Lieber, Liu, Montanez,
Mullin, Nation, Nava, Oropeza, Pavley, Ridley-Thomas, Ruskin, Saldana,
Torrico, Wolk, Yee, and Nunez
Absences, abstentions, or not voting: Dymally, Gordon, Jerome Horton,
Negrete McLeod, Richman, Salinas, and Umberg
|
