SACRAMENTO, Calif. (BP)–Homosexual couples would receive most of the benefits of married couples under a bill that narrowly passed along party lines in the California State Assembly June 4.
The bill passed 41-32, one vote more than is necessary for passage in the 80-member body. All 41 “yes” votes came from Democrats; all 32 “no” votes came from Republicans. Seven Democrats abstained. The bill now moves on to the state senate.
The bill would give the state’s 18,000 registered homosexual couples the same benefits as married couples in such matters as financial support, child custody, debt assumption and community property, according to The Sacramento Bee.
Specifically, the bill (AB 205) says that registered partners “shall have the same rights” that are “granted to and imposed upon spouses.”
Pro-family groups labeled it a “homosexual marriage” bill and said it violates Proposition 22, which defines marriage as being solely between a man and a woman and was passed by voters three years ago.
“Unless vetoed by Governor [Gray] Davis, AB 205 will reverse the vote of the people on marriage,” Randy Thomasson, executive director of Campaign for California Families, said in a release. “… The Democrat politicians apparently have no problem reversing the people’s vote on marriage, the foundation of family and society. It is high time for concerned citizens to rise up and fight the corruption in Sacramento. If reversing the people’s vote on marriage doesn’t demonstrate political arrogance, I don’t know what does.”
One supporter of the bill, Democratic assemblywoman Jackie Goldberg, admitted that she would like to pass a bill allowing homosexual couples to marry.
“If I could bring a bill recognizing marriages by people of the same gender, I’d do it in a hot minute,” she said, according to The Bee. “You know me well. I’m not shy. But it’s not possible.”
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