Bay Area Reporter Weblogs

Chicago has become the first host of a Gay Games in 20 years not to be a financial bust.

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Assemblyman Mark Leno’s (D-San Francisco) gender-neutral marriage bill cleared its first vote in the state Senate Tuesday, July 10, when the judiciary committee approved it on a 3-1 vote.

The bill previously passed in the Assembly. It now goes to another Senate committee before heading to the Senate floor. Its passage is expected, but Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has already gone on record saying he will veto it.

Similar to Leno’s 2005 legislation, which the governor vetoed, AB43, the Religious Freedom and Civil Marriage Protection Act, would give same-sex couples the ability to marry. Religious institutions would be able to choose whether they would solemnize marriages between same-sex couples.