Propos ition 22 Ove rturned

Local advocates cheer clear path to gay marriage

Proponents celebrate at SLO courthouse Thursday, but opponents say the state Supreme Court ruling ignores the will of voters who passed a ban in 2000

By Tonya Strickland

Local gay-marriage proponents celebrated what they called an important step toward equality Thursday after the state’s highest court overturned a voter-approved ban on same-sex marriages in California.

But the decision striking down Proposition 22 left some locals complaining that the state Supreme Court disregarded the will of people.

As those for and against same-sex marriage reacted to the decision Thursday, a county official said it will be at least 30 days before the court’s decision is final and the county can begin issuing licenses for gay marriages.

Despite the ruling, religious and social conservatives are pressing to put a constitutional amendment on the November ballot that prohibits gay marriage.

The court on Thursday cited a 1948 state Supreme Court decision that overturned a ban on interracial marriages in striking down both the state’s 1977 one-man, one-woman marriage law as well as Proposition 22, which was passed by 61 percent of voters in 2000.

The Republican-dominated court voted 4-3 to overturn the ban.

California joins Massachusetts as the only states in the nation that permit gay marriage. Unlike Massachusetts, though, California has no residency requirement for obtaining a marriage license, meaning gay and lesbian couples from across the country may come to the state to get married, said Jennifer Pizer, a gay-rights attorney who worked on the case.

California has an estimated 108,734 households headed by same-sex couples, according to 2006 U. S. Census figures. San Luis Obispo County has more than 1,400 such households — or about 1.45 percent of the county’s total households.

SLO County reacts

“This is a landmark day for the gay and lesbian community,” said the Rev. Caroline Hall of St. Benedict’s Episcopal Church in Los Osos. “It’s a tremendous sense of the vindication that we should not be discriminating against gay and lesbian civil rights and that (gays and lesbians) should have the same legal and civil protections that everyone else has.”

The Gay and Lesbian Alliance of the Central Coast, a local nonprofit group that advocates gay rights, held a rally Thursday at the county courthouse in San Luis Obispo to celebrate the decision and discuss actions it would take if the amendment banning gay marriage goes before voters.

“We’re proud of California today,” GALA President Michael Beck said. “The decision isn’t only victory for the gay and lesbian community but for all people seeking equality.”

Later at the rally, Beck told the 75 or so attendees that his group plans to station volunteers near polling places throughout the county during the June 3 primary election to inform voters about the issue.

But others said Thursday’s ruling discounts the opinion of a majority of the state’s voters.

“I do feel like the people who voted for Prop. 22 were ignored,” said Christina Chappie, president of Cal Poly College Republicans. “I don’t know how the state can make a decision without factoring in what the people of the state previously voted for.”

The club, which has about 300 members, hasn’t taken a stance on gay marriage, she said.

The California Catholic Conference — including the Diocese of Monterey, which covers San Luis Obispo County — also said the ruling ignored voters’ wishes.

Proposition 22 “reflected the wisdom of the voters of California in retaining the traditional definition of marriage as a biological reality and a societal good,” the group said in a prepared statement. “Unfortunately… the court saw fit to disregard the will of the majority of people of California.”

Assemblyman Sam Blakeslee, R-San Luis Obispo, said he disagreed with the court’s ruling Thursday but said the debate must remain civil.

“Although good and honest people may disagree,” Blakeslee said, “my personal conviction has always been, and remains, that marriage should be between one man and one woman.”

But Beck, with GALA, said human equality needs to take precedence.

“It’s part of our Constitution to have fairness and equality,” he said, “so whether you like something or not, it’s something that’s just given.”

Hall has officiated about five local spiritual same-sex ceremonies in the past four to five years (the state had previously allowed civil unions for gay and lesbian couples). She said the ruling Thursday upholds the religious freedoms of leaders such as herself to marry same-sex couples.

“Not being able to marry gay people in legal ceremonies was against my own values,” she said. “I felt like I should have been able to marry people both spiritually and legally and, until now, I was limited to simply spiritually.”

Julie Rodewald, San Luis Obispo County’s clerk-recorder, said as soon as the justices issue the final word, her office will begin issuing marriage licenses.

She is still waiting to hear whether new forms will be required for same-sex marriage licenses or whether current forms will suffice, she said.

Tribune staff writer P. Kim Bui and The Associated Press contributed to this story.