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GUEST: Seth Kilbourn, Policy Director of Equality California

California Assembly man Mark Leno, a Democrat from San Francisco, is celebrating a victory these days. His attempt to legalize same-sex marriage cleared the Assembly Judiciary Committee last week. The bill will next be heard by the Appropriations committee, which is chaired by Leno. But the LGBT community in California is not opening the champagne just yet. The fate of Assembly Bill 43, the Religious Freedom and Civil Marriage Protection Act, will likely be vetoed by the Governor. Proposition 22 a ballot measure which prevents the state from recognizing same-sex marriage, was passed by Californians in 2000. Still Mark Leno argues that unlike previous years, there is growing support for legalizing same-sex marriage, both in the state Legislature and in the public. Currently Massachusetts is the only state in the union that allows legalized same-sex marriage. A similar bill to California’s AB 43 just passed the Assembly Judiciary Committee in Connecticut.

For more information, visit www.eqca.org.