California's Definition of Descrimination Act

Assembly Bill 19 was proposed by San Francisco Democratic Assemblyman Mark Leno. It would redefine the state's family code to define marriage as between "two persons" instead of "a man and a woman." Coming up for a vote today, it seems likely to fail by six votes.

California residents passed Proposition 22 in 2000, stating in a vote that marriage, as far as the majority who took to the polls is concerned, isn't for the gay. Plans for an initiative to place the decision into the state's constitution are under way. And even if AB19 made it to Governator Arnold's desk, it seems sure that he'd veto it because the issue of legally discriminating against a certain class of people should be done "by a vote of the people or through the courts."

The lines of the argument were drawn quite clearly within the Assembly, as one legislator from LA County said homosexuality is "not OK, it's not natural, and I will not have my children taught that (it is)." Lesbian member Jackie Goldberg said, "you must deny me my humanity if you don't want me to marry my partner."

I am obviously amazingly biased on this issue, but I will add this: The fact that this is even being discussed in a public forum at this stage in my life, and that marriage for homosexual couples is even possible gives me hope that the country hasn't quite lost all its marbles, yet.

Fight the good fight.