Schwarzenegger vetoes gay marriage bill

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger followed through Thursday on his promise to veto a bill to legalize same-sex marriage in California, saying the issue should be decided by voters or the courts.

Schwarzenegger had announced his intention on Sept. 7, a day after the legislature became the first in the country to approve a bill allowing gays and lesbians to wed.

Schwarzenegger said the bill by Democrat Mark Leno, an openly gay assemblyman from San Francisco, contradicted Proposition 22, which was approved by voters in 2000 and said only marriages between a man and woman are valid.

While a San Francisco Superior Court judge ruled that the ban is unconstitutional, Schwarzenegger noted that the case is before a state appeals court and will likely be decided by the California Supreme Court.

"If the ban of same-sex marriage is unconstitutional this bill is not necessary," he said. "If the ban is constitutional this bill is ineffective."

He said the state constitution bars the Legislature from enacting a law allowing gay marriage without another vote by the citizenry.

Eddie Gutierrez, a spokesman for Equality California, a gay rights group that supported the bill, said Schwarzenegger had merely delayed the day when gay marriage is legal.

"We are extremely disappointed with the governor's decision," he said. "By denying us marriage equality, he has turned a back to our community."