Same-sex marriages OK’d in California

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – The California Assembly voted Tuesday to allow gay and lesbian couples to marry, making the state’s legislature the first in the nation to deliberately approve same-sex marriages and handing a political hot potato to an already beleaguered Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

After a vehement floor debate in which legislators accused each other of abusing moral principles, the state Assembly passed the Religious Freedom and Civil Marriage Protection Act, which recasts the definition of marriage as between “two persons,” not between a man and a woman. The state Senate passed the bill last week.

Advocates of the bill argued that the bill fit into California’s sense of itself as a trendsetter for the rest of the country. But opponents have argued that the law must be stopped in the nation’s most populous state because it constitutes another assault on the sanctity of the family.

Tuesday’s 41-35 vote amounted to more difficult news for Schwarzenegger, the actor-turned-politician who roared into Sacramento on the back of a recall election in 2003 promising fundamental change. Schwarzenegger, who has taken on teachers, nurses and other state workers, has seen his popularity lag in recent months.

Schwarzenegger supports domestic partnerships but opposes same-sex marriage, a spokesman said.