The Governor of California recently signed a bill into law that eliminates the terms ‘husband’ and ‘wife’ and replaces them with the generic term ‘spouse’, thus redefining marriage in the state. The bill, signed by Jerry Brown, will take effect on January 1, 2015 . Senator Mark Leno presented the bill on July 9.
“Under existing law, a reference to ‘husband’ and ‘wife,’ ‘spouses,’ or ‘married persons’ or a comparable term, includes persons who are lawfully married to each other and persons who were previously lawfully married to each other, as is appropriate under the circumstances of the particular case. The bill would delete references to ‘husband’ or ‘wife’ in the Family Code and would instead refer to a ‘spouse,’ and would make other related changes,” reads the bill.
The issue hails back to 2008 when California was asked to vote on whether it wants to enshrine marriage as being only between a man and a woman. Even though the measure, which aimed at amending the state Constitution to protect the Bible’s definition of marriage from infringement, was passed by five percentage points, Leno pursued to have the definition of marriage changed under California law so same-sex nuptials could be included under it.
“I am pleased Governor Brown has recognized the importance of this bill, which makes it explicitly clear in state law that every loving couple has the right to marry in California. This legislation removes outdated and biased language from state codes and recognizes all married spouses equally, regardless of their gender,” said Leno.
However, conservative Christians seem rather disappointed with the government for apparently having overridden the will of the people.
“This bill continues the pattern we’ve been seeing the last few years of politicians ignoring the people to advance the agenda of marriage redefinition. What these politicians don’t want people to know is that their actions are illegitimate. Contrary to media myths, Prop. 8 has not been invalidated on a statewide basis. Instead, these politicians are exercising raw power, ignoring the Constitution and counting on the people and the courts not to hold them accountable,” said Matthew McReynolds, attorney with the Pacific Justice Institute in California.
Last fall, the Governor had signed another bill into law that obligates insurance companies in California to offer coverage for infertility treatments to homosexual couples.
“The way the law works, gay and lesbian couples would simply have to testify that they have been having sex for a year without producing a child to be considered ‘infertile,’ which is [100% of the time], since baby-making requires necessary components missing in homosexual activity. It doesn’t mean situations in which two gay men are both infertile and incapable of impregnating a surrogate mother. It means situations in which gay or lesbian couples can’t make a baby by having sex with each other. In other words, every single gay and lesbian couple on the planet,” commented writer Ben Shapiro.
