Nov 10 2008
Schwarzenegger on Prop 8
Source:
By 365gay Newscenter Staff
11.10.
2008 9:40am EST
(San Francisco, California) As gays and lesbians demonstrated against the banning of same-sex marriage in California for a fifth day Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said he hoped the California Supreme Court would overturn the measure.
Speaking on CNN Sunday, the governor called passage of the constitutional amendment “unfortunate … but it’s not the end.
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“I think that we will again maybe undo that, if the court is willing to do that, and then move forward from there and again lead in that area,” Schwarzenegger said.
The governor spoke out against the amendment during the campaign. In April, at the national convention of the Log Cabin Republicans, the nation’s largest gay Republican group, in San Diego, he said for the first time he opposed the measure, but predicted it would not get voter approval.
The measure succeeded, however, with a slim margin. LGBT rights groups immediately petitioned the California Supreme Court to overturn it on the grounds the measure is invalid, because the initiative process was improperly used in an attempt to undo the constitution’s core commitment to equality for everyone, by eliminating a fundamental right from just one group – lesbian and gay Californians.
The petition also says that Proposition 8 improperly attempts to prevent the courts from exercising their essential constitutional role of protecting the equal protection rights of minorities.
Appearing on CNN, Schwarzenegger urged gays not to give up in the fight for marriage equality.
“They should never give up. They should be on it and on it until they get it done,” he said.
That is a marked change from his earlier positions on gay marriage. Legislation to legalize same-sex marriage passed the California legislature twice and each time Schwarzenegger vetoed the bills, saying that the courts, or the people through a plebiscite, should decide the issue.
The California Supreme Court ruled in May that it was unconstitutional to ban gays and lesbians from marrying. Opponents immediately began work on Prop 8.
Supporters of same-sex marriage demonstrated Sunday at a number of churches across the state. Evangelical Christians, the Roman Catholic Church and the Mormon Church actively supported passage of Prop 8.
Carrying signs that read “You Cannot Vote Away Civil Rights,” hundreds protested in front of the Saddleback Church, an Orange County mega-church.
In Oakland, demonstrators crowded onto a roadway in front of a Mormon temple, prompting the California Highway Patrol to close off an exit ramp, because they feared some demonstrators could be hit by traffic.
Thousands of others demonstrated against the amendment in front of the state Capitol in Sacramento.
On Saturday, 10,000 supporters of gay marriage took to the streets in Los Angeles. Another 10,000 demonstrated in San Diego.
On Friday, tensions flared at a vigil at Palm Springs City Hall, when a supporter of the gay marriage ban carrying a plastic foam cross clashed with protesters, according to The Desert Sun. The crowd ripped the cross from her hands and stomped on it. Police made no arrests.
About 2,000 people gathered in Long Beach Friday night and there were three arrests. A thousand people also marched Friday in San Francisco.
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