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Local Residents Rally in Support of Gay Marriage
By Jamie Oppenheim Dozens of Davis residents celebrated the issuing of marriage licenses in Massachusetts to gay and lesbian couples Monday night. The crowd sang "I'm getting married in the morning, get me to church on time." As part of a nationwide celebration, the Yolo County branch of Marriage Equality California sponsored the event at E Street Plaza. Ellen Pontac, co-founder of the Yolo County MECA, said Massachusetts took a huge step in bringing equality to American families. "When California legislators see that marriage in Massachusetts is not a problem, they will understand it's important that all people are treated equally and have the same access to the rights and responsibilities of marriage," she said. Bruce MacKenzie, an event attendee, said he felt marriage is a civil rights issue and everyone should have a right to marry. "To me, I really frown on religion being injected into a secular society," he said. "It's religious values about abortion and about gay marriage. They have no right to impose those values upon a secular society." Campaign for California Families expressed its outrage in a press release on Monday. "This is a sad day for America," said CCF Executive Director Randy Thomasson. "The sexual and judicial tyranny in Massachusetts is certain to increase people's disgust for the aggressive homosexual agenda and voters' distrust of our system of government." The Williams Project, a UCLA Law School think tank dedicated to sexual orientation law and public policy, published a pro-same-sex marriage study on May 10. The study claims same-sex marriages could provide the state with an extra $23 million to $25.2 million. Brad Sears, the study's co-author and director of the Williams Project, said the study showed California would benefit from gay marriages mainly because it would decrease the number of individuals eligible for means-tested state benefit programs, such as Medi-Cal. Howard Jacobs, an administrative analyst at the Williams Project, said the state was worried about losing money through joint income taxes, but the study shows gay marriages would boost the state's revenue. Justin Clevenger, a member of the Davis College Republicans, said he felt skeptical about the study because it might have a liberal bias. "It's not that you can't trust UCLA, but I'd have to see more than just a UCLA survey," he said. Steve Hansen, a legislative advocate for Equality California, said he was pleased with the study because it shows both the moral and fiscal benefits of same-sex marriages. "There's no difference between a straight couple getting married and a same-sex couple," he said. "We're not telling straight people not to marry because it costs the state money." California also made a step toward equality when the state's judiciary committee passed state Rep. Mark Leno's Assembly Bill 1967 by an 8-3 vote. The bill would amend the California Family Code, changing the wording of the definition of marriage to be "the union between two people" in order to include gay couples. Josef Lukan, an intern for Mark Leno and a participant in the rally, said he felt hopeful about the bill's direction. "A lot of groups such as Equality California and MECA didn't think it would even get this far," he said. "The fact that it did get this far shows that in the next assembly session there will be even more momentum building up and it might be successful then." Currently, the bill is in the Assembly Committee on Appropriations. The legislative deadline is Friday, and the committee is scheduled to hear it on the Thursday when it meets. © 1995 - 2003 by The California Aggie. All rights reserved.
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