CA Lawmakers Pass Gay Marriage Bill

SACRAMENTO, CA -- The California Senate approved the Religious Freedom and Civil Marriage Protection Act Friday, which removes gender from the state's marriage laws and replaces it with the gender neutral phrase "a legal contract between two persons."

The act, which passed the Assembly back in June, is now moving on to Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's desk, who has promised to veto the measure as he did back in 2005.

Mark Leno (D-San Francisco), the bill's author, said about the vote, "Two consecutive legislatures have now boldly and proudly affirmed the full, first class, and equal citizenship of all of Californians in loving and committed relationship who want their bond recognized and honored by the state in which they live and to which they contribute."

"My Senate colleagues recognized what an ever increasing number of fair-minded Californians also see - that marriage strengthens our society and singling same sex couples out of this important institution hurts us all," he said.

The legislation is nearly identical to the bill Schwarzenegger vetoed in 2005. It would amend the Family Code to define marriage as a civil contract between two persons instead of a civil contract between a man and a woman. The measure also reaffirms that no religious institution would ever be required to solemnize marriages contrary to its fundamental beliefs.

For 127 years (until 1977) California marriage law was gender-neutral, containing no reference to "man" or "woman."