Over the Rainbow: - Wrestling With Angels

Christian leaders and organizations. In 2000, California voters passed, by a vote of 61% to 39%,
Proposition 22 which recognized marriage only between a man and a woman , even though the
media had downplayed public support for the measure characterizing it as hate legislation
(Daniels,2000).
Gay Marriage Ping Pong in San Francisco
San Francisco was distinguished by the LGBT culture with a rainbow flag flying on almost
every street. After hearing President Bush oppose gay marriage in his State of the Union
Address on January 20, 2004, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newson challenged the California
State Constitution in regard to unequal treatment for gays and lesbians. Noting that “gay
citizens pay taxes and protect our communities as firefighters and police officers, among other
occupations, “ He instructed county clerks to issue marriage licenses on a non-discriminatory
basis. On the first weekend over 2000 gay and lesbian couples were wed. Approximately
4,000 same sex couples were married in San Francisco’s City Hall between February 12 th and
March 11 th. (SanFrancisco.com, 2004).
Opponents to same-sex marriage filed civil lawsuits to stop San Francisco from issuing
marriage licenses to same-sex couples. On March 14, Judge Kramer ruled that California
statutes denying marriage to same-sex couples were unconstitutional. Opponents appealed
the decision. In July of 2006 the appellate court overturned the lower court decision.
Presiding Justice William R. McGuiness found: that “the state’s interests in ‘preserving the
traditional definition of marriage’ and ‘carrying out the expressed wishes of a majority of
Californians’ were sufficient to preserve the existing law.” McGuiness wrote, “That change
must come from democratic processes, however, not by judicial fiat” (Wikipedia (b) 2010).
In the 2005-2006 session of the California State Legislature, assembly member Mark Leno
introduced Assembly Bill 19, proposing the legalization of same-sex marriage. In September of
2005, the California Senate approved the bill by 21 to 15 and the State Assembly approved it by
41 to 35. California became the first legislature in the nation to approve a same-sex marriage
bill. However Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger indicated he would veto the bill, citing
Proposition 22 (Wikipedia (b), 2010).
California Supreme Court Affirms the Right to Same-Sex Marriage
Lawsuits challenging the denial of marriage rights for gays reached the Supreme Court of
California. On May 15, 2008, it overturned the state’s ban on same-sex marriage with the ruling
In re Marriage Cases. Even though the ballot initiative to bring the vote for a constitutional
Over the Rainbow: The Gay Battle for Social Reorganization of America. 2010
Dr. M. L. Coppock
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