Balanced News Blog

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said on Wednesday he will veto a bill to allow gay marriage in the state and said the issue should be decided by the courts or by voters directly but not by the Democrat-controlled legislature.

A veto had been widely expected after California’s Assembly on Tuesday endorsed gay marriage, the first time a state legislature had taken such a step. California’s Senate passed the bill last week.

Schwarzenegger’s press secretary, Margita Thompson, said the governor “believes that gay couples are entitled to full protection under the law and should not be discriminated against based upon their relationship.”

But since California voters approved a ballot measure five years ago defining marriage as between a man and a woman, the question of gay marriage should be put to voters again in a referendum or decided by courts, she said.

Source: Reuters.