This week California’s Assembly Judiciary Committee OK’d a bill to allow same-sex couples to get married. This, of course, will repeal Prop 22, which California voters passed several years ago, that states marriage is between a man and a woman. Democrats cited recent polls suggesting that Californians, today, believe that same-sex couples should be allowed to get married. Unfortunately, these polls are not accurate, as usual. Perhaps they asked the wrong question. The main question is, are Californians against the concept of same-sex couples (not married couples) more today than 5-7 years ago? The answer is no. If anything, one would find that many people could care less if you are gay, they treat you the same as if you were not. Gays are accepted more so today than 10-15 years ago. It is no longer a taboo in our culture, primarily thanks to TV shows and movies that showcase homosexuals are the regular, hard-working, caring people that they are, not the weird pedophiles or cross-dressers that most people, 30 years ago, thought they were. However, the question is should homosexuals be allowed to marry?

California democrats believe they should. They cite Prop 22 as discriminatory. They claim that civil unions or domestic partnerships are demeaning. According to the Bay Area Reporter, ‘San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera argues that society's being uncomfortable with allowing same-sex couples to marry is not a justifiable reason to relegate gay men and lesbians to the "obviously second-rate institution" of domestic partnerships. Doing so, he argues, "only reinforces in the public mind the well-entrenched inferior status of same-sex couples. This not only stigmatizes lesbians and gay men but fosters discrimination against them and their families."’

I must ask Dennis Herrera how exactly he came to this conclusion. If domestic partnerships are second-rate, and gay men and women are inferior how does he explain the public’s acceptance of men and women who choose not to marry, live together, and even have families as domestic partners? It was not long ago that many people shunned the concept of couples who lived together without marriage. Would they be considered second-rate as well? According to many religions they are. There is a strong acceptance in our society of gay couples. That is not the issue. The issue is plain. Marriage is not something that was created by society for tax benefits or to gain respect among your peers. It was created by God as a gift to bring a man and woman closer to each other and closer to him. Somehow our lawmakers are forgetting this. Herrera is comparing marriage to civil rights which is not even in the same league. For as long as it has been around marriage has been a religious institution. Civil unions or domestic partnerships are not. Lawmakers must distinguish between the two.

Once more democratic leaders are trying to repeal a law the PEOPLE of the state voted for. Once again, they will fail and then try to have the courts decide what is best for our society as a whole, thus completely ignoring the will of the people who voted for Prop 22. Our courts should enforce Prop 22 not question it.

A friend of mine told me, when I asked him about his opinion on this issue, that he really didn’t care so much and that he believes that most Americans do not treat gay couples as inferior or ‘stigmatize’ them because they are in a domestic partnership. He did agree, however, that redefining marriage itself was the issue involved. How can one redefine a word? I suppose you could append to the definition, he said. Perhaps City Attorney Herrera should poll the ‘real’ citizens of our state not just the ones who tell him what he wants to hear.

Personally, I think our state lawmakers should be more concerned with the issues truly affecting all Californians. If they really want to "lead the way" in this country then perhaps they can work on education, illegal immigration, border enforcement and the pending energy crisis first.