In the latest sign the battle over same-sex marriage is far from over, the Legislature's gay and lesbian caucus and Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg Tuesday introduced a resolution opposing Proposition 8.
The nonbinding resolution, introduced on the second day of the new legislative session, seeks to put the Legislature on record as declaring the gay marriage ban approved by voters last month was an improper revision of the state constitution.
Sen. Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, said the resolution would restate the now-familiar argument advanced by opponents of Proposition 8 that the measure required a two-thirds vote of the Legislature before being placed on the ballot.
The state Supreme Court has agreed to consider that argument, and a ruling is expected by next June.
"It's important to put ourselves on record (and) that we not remain silent," Leno said at a Capitol news conference where he was joined by other members of the LGBT Legislative Caucus.
Steinberg, D-Sacramento, said the Legislature should not give any ground "when it comes to civil rights."
"The battle for civil and human rights will continue until equal protection under the law is applied," Steinberg said, calling Proposition 8 a "temporary setback."
The Yes on Proposition 8 campaign accused the Democratic legislators of inappropriately trying to influence the state Supreme Court.
"You'd think that these legislators would be focused on resolving the budget deficit or improving the economy," campaign chairman Ron Prentice said in a statement.
Instead, he said, the lawmakers "seem more interested in grandstanding for the cameras and thumbing their noses at voters who enacted Proposition 8 by a nearly 600,000 vote margin."
Geoff Kors, a member of the No on 8 campaign committee, said "everyone involved in the campaign is doing an assessment of what happened – what went well, what didn't go well."
Kors said "we're very optimistic" the Supreme Court will overturn Proposition 8. But if it doesn't, Kors said opponents are prepared to go to the ballot to overturn it.
While other opponents have mentioned a 2010 election as a possibility, Kors said the decision "would have to be made on a whole bunch of factors."
Kors said one reason Proposition 8 passed was because opponents were outraised by $14 million until the final month of the campaign, when they overcame that deficit.
"So, obviously, early fundraising and having enough money to get our message out early would be critical," Kors said.
Newly elected Assemblyman John Pérez, the first Latino member of the LGBT Legislative Caucus, said the campaign would also have to do a better job of convincing minority voters that a ban on same-sex marriage "enshrines discrimination."
"What happened is that for too many people that message was lost and they got distracted by some of the other noise that the Yes side put out," said Perez, D-Los Angeles.
Call Aurelio Rojas, Bee Capitol Bureau, (916) 326-5545.
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