SACRAMENTO -- The fight over homosexual marriage is raging across the country, but leaders of the California Assembly have conspicuously avoided the issue by delaying a vote on a bill that would legalize gay and lesbian matrimony.
The delay is wrapped up in election-year politics and complicated by a skittishness among some moderate Democrats to tackle a controversial issue. Leaders also said pending court cases could override the Legislature, and there is a minor split over strategy among gay and lesbian lawmakers.
Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez (D-Los Angeles) said in an interview that the measure would eventually get a hearing in the Assembly but was being delayed because the lower house was focusing on other issues, such as reforming the state's workers' compensation system. He said debating gay marriage now could be a distraction.
"I think the question is timing," Nunez said. "We want to make sure it doesn't take away from the focus and attention that workers' comp has been receiving lately. I think it's a question of when the hearing is going to take place."
But some majority Democrats are concerned about an approaching deadline. The bill must pass a policy committee by April 23; otherwise it would need Republican support to override house rules and proceed. But getting votes from conservative Republicans would be difficult. The Legislature went on spring break Thursday and is not scheduled to return until April 12.
Only last year, the Legislature approved -- and former Gov. Gray Davis signed -- a host of new rights for domestic partners that are scheduled to take effect next year. Some lawmakers hailed it as an important step toward one day legalizing gay and lesbian marriage, even though California law currently defines marriage as between a man and a woman.
But in February, a rapid-fire series of events brought new national focus to the issue. San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom ordered city officials to begin approving marriage licenses for gay and lesbian couples. Lawsuits were filed to block the licenses, and President Bush even called for a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage.
At the state level, Assemblyman Mark Leno (D-San Francisco) submitted his gay marriage bill on Feb. 12, and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger told a national TV audience that he had no problem with gay marriage as long as the public or the courts supported it.
Now there are differing opinions even within the gay and lesbian caucus over how to proceed.
