California Reintroduces Gay Marriage Bill

California's newly sworn Legislature on Monday reintroduced legislation that would allow gay couples to marry in the state of California and also another bill that would let unmarried, heterosexual couples register as domestic partners.

Assemblyman Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, said he hoped the Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who vetoed a nearly identical gay marriage bill in 2005, would change his position on the new bill. Schwarzenegger has said it is up to voters or the courts, not lawmakers, to settle the contentious issue of gay marriage.

California law does not permit gay marriage, but gay couples who register as domestic partners are given most of the same rights as married couples.

A Superior Court in San Francisco ruled last year that having separate rules for gay and straight couples was unconstitutional. But an appeals court reversed that decision in October, saying it was up to the Legislature, not the courts, to decide whether to change the traditional definition of marriage.