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California Senate Poised to Vote on 'Gay Marriage' Bill
By Susan Jones
CNSNews.com Senior Editor
September 1, 2005

(CNSNews.com) -- It's "down to the wire" for a homosexual marriage bill in California, a conservative group is warning.

The bill, AB 849, could come up for a vote on the floor of the California Senate any time this week, and that vote is expected to be close, said the Campaign for Children and Families.

If the bill passes the Senate, it would then go straight back to the Assembly floor for another close vote. An earlier version of the bill (AB 19) failed to pass the Assembly by only three votes in early June.

No state legislature has ever passed a bill legalizing same-sex marriage. Last year in Massachusetts, the state supreme court legalized homosexual marriage; and the Connecticut Legislature passed a civil union bill in April.

The California-based Campaign for Children and Families, a strong opponent of homosexual marriage, says phone calls, faxes, emails and prayers could make all the difference in defeating what it calls an unconstitutional bill.

AB 849 would make marriage a civil contract between "two persons" rather than "a man and a woman."

Opponents say that such "gender neutral" marriage would fly in the face of Proposition 22, the California Protection of Marriage Initiative, which received the support of 61 percent of California voters five years ago.

"This homosexual 'marriage' license bill attacks what God created and the people have affirmed -- that the sacred institution of marriage is for one man and one woman," said Randy Thomasson, CCF president, in a press release urging conservatives to mobilize against the bill.

The Democrat-controlled California Legislature faces a Sept. 9 deadline for getting bills to Gov. Schwarzenegger's desk.

CCF is urging California voters to contact their state senator with the message that marriage should remain the union of one man and one woman.

But supporters of AB 849 are lobbying, too -- for passage of the bill. Equality California, a homosexual advocacy group, says the government has no business discriminating against love, commitment, and financial security. It calls same-sex marriage "a fundamental civil rights issue."

"This is about equality -- nothing more, nothing less," the group adds on its website.

A Senate committee sent the bill to the full Senate last week on a 7-6 vote. Only one Democrat joined five Republicans in opposing the bill in committee.

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