Action Needed: IMMEDIATELY e-mail or call your local Assembly member and tell him or her you want them to OPPOSE AB 19. This dangerous bill would legalize same-sex marriage in California. More background on this issue is listed below.

Contact your local Assembly member today!

Time is critical! This bill could be voted on any day now so there is only time to e-mail or call your Assembly member’s office.

We provide below suggested text for an e-mail you can send which can also be used as talking points if you choose to call.

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Suggested text which you can copy and paste into your e-mail or use as talking points for a phone call:

As a constituent, I strongly encourage you to oppose AB19 for the following reasons:

1. AB 19 is an unconstitutional bill under the California Constitution. We have a right to expect you to uphold our state constitution.
2. Keep the time-honored definition of marriage between a man and a woman because it is essential to creating a secure future for our children. We expect you to create law based on facts, not emotional stories. Thousands of studies prove that a home with a mother and a father create a society that is stronger for America and her future children. Laws should reflect and promote this reality.
3. Respect the people’s vote (61.4%) for Proposition 22 which states “only marriage between a man and a woman shall be valid or recognized in California.” We voted, and we expect the people’s vote to be honored, not ignored to promote the agenda of a special interest group.

Important. If you e-mail your Assembly member be sure to include your name and address so they will know that you are their constituent.

Brief Backgound

Assembly bill AB-19 would change the definition of marriage in California to “a personal relation arising out of a civil contract between 2 persons.” This would allow same-sex individuals to legally marry in our state.

In 2000 the citizens of California overwhelmingly voted for Proposition 22, which stated that, “Only marriage between a man and a woman shall be valid or recognized in California.” Assemblyman Leno, (D-San Francisco) and a number of other Assembly members have arrogantly chosen to ignore the vote of the people of this state to push their own special interest agenda. AB 19 would amend and change California’s family code relating to marriage, regardless of Prop 22.

AB 19 is unconstitutional under the California Constitution !

Unquestionable legal evidence has been presented to your Assembly members that AB 19 is unconstitutional (Assembly Judicial hearing on April 26, 2005). Authorities such as our California courts, Attorney General’s Office, and Legislative Counsel’s Office have all agreed that to change Proposition 22’s language on the definition of marriage would be unconstitutional under the rules of our California Constitution.

The two recent California court rulings prohibiting same-sex "marriages" are as follows:

Proposition 22 “ensures...that California will not permit same-sex partners to validly marry within the state. Without submitting the matter to the voters, the Legislature cannot change this absolute refusal to recognize marriages between persons of the same sex.”
- California Court of Appeal, Third District, Knight v. Superior Court of Sacramento, p. 12, April 4, 2005

The plain language of Family Code section 308.5 means that California cannot recognize a “marriage” between same-sex partners that has taken place in another state, and cannot enact law authorizing same-sex couples to enter into “marriage” in California unless first approved by the voters.
- Sacramento Superior Court, Knight v. Schwarzenegger, p. 14, Sept. 8, 2004

The rule from the California State Constitution as applied to Proposition 22, which was a statutory initiative, is as follows:

Article II, Section 10(c): The Legislature may amend and repeal referendum statutes. It may amend or repeal an initiative statute by another statute that becomes effective only when approved by the electors unless the initiative statute permits amendment or repeal without their approval.

It is essential to protect marriage between a man and a woman in order to create a more secure society for our children.

Assemblyman Tim Leslie of Roseville spoke out in the recent Judiciary Committee hearing on AB 19 stating, “The man and woman marriage relationship is not just something that is traditional in California or in the United States. This is something that has been the determined basis of virtually every culture of the world.

“Marriage between a man and a woman, which you might call the ‘traditional family,’ is the basic building block of our society. To tamper with that carries great concern and is a very dangerous thing to do. This is the time we must stand up and say that we will not allow traditional family, traditional marriage to be discarded, but we will stand up and fight for it.”

Now is the time to stand up to defend marriage!