Assembly committee approves proposal for same-sex marriage

ANNA OBERTHUR
Associated Press
SACRAMENTO - An Assembly committee Tuesday approved a bill legalizing same-sex marriage in California, although the bill's sponsor said such a "milestone event" didn't change what will be a difficult fight to pass it in the full Legislature.
Assemblyman Mark Leno, a San Francisco Democrat and the bill's author, said it was the first time a legislative body has voted to support gay marriage.
"I saw in the eight aye votes a great pride in the fact that people were standing up for civil rights - not special privileges, but civil rights," Leno said.
The proposal, which would amend the state family code to define marriage as between "two persons" instead of between and man and a woman, was passed by the Assembly Judiciary Committee by an 8-3 vote after more than an hour of debate.
Opponents of the bill said it would contradict the will of the voters, who passed Proposition 22 in 2000, defining marriage a union between a man and a woman.
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Evan Wolfson Named One of TIME Magazine's 'TIME 100: The World's 100 Most Influential People'
Longtime Advocate of Marriage Equality for Same-Sex Couples Joins Nelson Mandela, Bill Gates, Oprah Winfrey, and World Leaders on Magazine's List
NEW YORK, April 20 /PRNewswire/ -- Evan Wolfson, executive director of Freedom to Marry, has been named one of the "TIME 100," a list in the current special edition of TIME magazine featuring the 100 most influential people alive today. Recognized for his pioneering work on marriage equality for same-sex couples, Wolfson is included in the "Heroes and Icons" section of the list, along with luminaries such as Nelson Mandela, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Bono, and Nobel Prize winners.