By Jonquil Frankham
CALIFORNIA, November 10, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger yesterday compared homosexual activists’ efforts to legalize same-sex “marriage” to his body-building days. “I learned that you should never ever give up,” he said an interview with CNN Sunday. “They should never give up. They should be on it and on it until they get it done.”
The governor’s comments follow a series of on-going protests against Proposition 8, during which same-sex “marriage” supporters have marched on Mormon temples and various Christian churches, including the cathedral Our Lady of the Angels in Los Angeles and the Saddleback Church in Lake Forest.
Schwarzenegger says he hopes the California Supreme Court will overthrow Proposition 8, which wrote the traditional definition of marriage into the state constitution on November 4th.
The California governor’s position on homosexual issues has fluctuated over the year. In 2005 he vetoed a bill that would have legalized same-sex “marriage,” invoking Proposition 22, which restricted marriage to the union of a man and a woman, following the year-2000 referendum on the definition of marriage. To the surprise of many, the governor also vetoed a bill that would have made instruction on the achievements of homosexual persons mandatory in state schools in 2006.
However, Schwarzenegger has also repeatedly come to the defense of homosexual “marriage” advocates. In a brief he submitted to the California Supreme Court in 2007 when it was considering the issue of same-sex “marriage,” he wrote, “The Administration submits that use of the words ‘marry’ and ‘marriage’ is not required by the California Constitution. Thus, the name of the legal relationship now known as ‘marriage’ could be changed.”
Schwarzenegger expressed his approval of the May Supreme Court decision to overthrow the 2000 referendum on marriage, in which voters solidly decided to maintain the true definition of marriage. Also, as LifeSiteNews reported in 2006, the governor has said in the past that he wanted to see the Republican Party move towards the “left” on issues such as gay rights and abortion.
Last April LifeSiteNews reported that Randy Thomasson, president of Campaign for Children and Families, commented, “Arnold Schwarzenegger is saying one thing and doing another. When he first ran for governor, he said he believed marriage was only for a man and a woman. He promised to veto every bill legalizing same-sex marriage. He even said marriage is up to the courts or the voters to decide. Now he’s flip-flopped and betrayed average voters by pledging to ‘fight against’ protecting marriage licenses for a man and a woman in the California State Constitution. He’s showing everyone that he is integrity-challenged.”
For previous coverage on this issue, see
California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger Endorses Gay Pride Events
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2006/mar/06032905.html
Schwarzenegger will oppose same sex “marriage” ban
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/apr/08041401.html
California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger Says Marriage Could be Eliminated in Future
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2007/aug/07082702.html