RE: SUPPORT FOR AB 43
Dear Governor,
Gay men and lesbians are being discriminated against in California, and you can do something about it.
No, I am not talking about discrimination in employment, or housing, in the private sector. This injustice is much more pervasive and damaging than that. I am talking about the second largest perpetrator of discrimination against gay people in the nation - a virtually inescapable discrimination, where moving to another neighborhood or changing jobs does nothing to cure it. I am talking about
institutionalized discrimination on a truly grand scale.
I am talking about discrimination against gay people by the State Government of California, whereby the state refuses to legally recognize the marriages of men and women to members of the same sex. This, in spite of the equal protection clauses in the state and federal constitutions.
With a stroke of your pen, you can end this particular injustice in California. The legislature, as representatives of the people of California, has seen fit to send you Assembly Bill 43, which would put marriage between two gay men or two lesbians on an equal legal footing with that of a heterosexual couple. Outside of a similar measure at the federal level, there is nothing greater that could be done to
eliminate discrimination against gay people in California.
Yet, most appropriately, it would not interfere with the rights of people in those religious organizations authorized by the state to perform legal marriages. AB 43 exempts them from having to perform marriages between members of the same sex; marriages that may be in contradiction to their religious beliefs.
On September 15th, in a meeting of the Executive Committee of the Libertarian Party of California, with all members present and accounted for, the Libertarian Party of California unanimously passed a resolution authorizing me to write you an open letter urging you to sign AB 43 into law.
The Libertarian Party would like to see all people treated equally before the law; gay or straight, male or female, white or black, able-bodied or disabled, married or single. We would like to see government less involved in the institution of marriage, which we see as a civil matter; something that isn't even within the proper role of government to interfere with or regulate. AB 43 is a significant move towards individual freedom by eliminating legalized discrimination by the State of California against gay couples. The Libertarian Party of California, and I personally, urge you to sign this historic bill into law.
Respectfully,
Kevin Takenaga
Chairman, Libertarian Party of California
Thanks to the Libertarian Party of California for its continued lobbying for gay equality under the law in California.
You can take steps to make marriage equality a reality here, by lobbying the governor, volunteering in marriage equality initiatives, and supporting groups like the LP of California that are taking an unapologetic stand for equality under the law.
