California says Yes to gay-marriage

The legislation passed the Senate last week and the Assembly this week, and now goes to the Governor's desk for final approval. The chances of the bill becoming law, however, are bleak, since Schwarzenegger has never come out in full support of gay-marriage.

He previously stated he would follow the will of the courts or the legislature, thereby dodging the issue, but now that the ball is in his court, he has to decide whether he wants to follow his beliefs, which would probably bring him to sign the bill, or the GOP's and the religious right's, which would most definitely force him to veto it.

My guess is, he'll bow to the pressure from his party, and veto the bill. If only to avoid becoming the first Governor in the history of this country to approve gay-marriage. A Republican Governor at that.

My hope is, he'll realize that gay-marriage IS the future and WILL happen, whether the religious right wants it or not, and that being the first one to herald it would write his name in the history books more than turning it down, and that he'd be looked upon favorably, if not now, in time.

The thing that angers me, however, is his office's official response:

The office of Mr Schwarzenegger, who has previously opposed gay marriage, issued a statement saying the governor believes the issue is best decided in the courts.

Are you kidding me?! The Republicans never fail to amaze me. They are the ones SCREAMING against activist judges legislating from the bench. They are the ones that expect the legislative bodies to make laws and the judiciary to interpret them, not change them as they please.

In Massachusetts, where the state Supreme Court forced the state government to offer gay-marriage, the Republicans were (and still are) up in arms because activist judges were legislating from the bench, holding that it is the function of elected officials to decide on such important matters, not of unelected and unaccountable judges.

So, here we have a case where it is the legislative body that decided on the issue (with a clear majority,) but since the Republicans don't like the outcome, than they turn to the courts for a different decision.

I just hope that if he doesn't sign the bill, the Supreme Court rules in our favor. Then, since both the legislators and the courts agreed, what is he gonna do? Call for a referendum? Maybe a moratorium. Anything to dodge the issue.