CALIFORNIANS REJECT GAY MARRIAGE

Despite a recent court ruling legalising gay marriage in California, the majority of the state’s citizens continue to oppose same-sex marriage.

According to a poll by the Los Angeles Times and KTLA, 52 percent of Californians do not approve of the California Supreme Court’s May 15 decision to allow same-sex marriage in the state.

Most disturbingly, 54 percent of the respondents also said that they would vote to ban same-sex marriage via a proposed amendment to the state’s constitution.

Opponents of same-sex marriage have been lobbying to put the proposed amendment to voters in November. If Californians voted for the measure, this would overturn the judges’ decision.

Analysts have said that the small anti-gay-marriage lead in the poll could well be reversed by the time the vote came up later in the year as controversial measures historically tend to lose support over time.

“Although the amendment to reinstate the ban on same-sex marriage is winning by a small majority, this may not bode well for the measure,” said Times Poll Director Susan Pinkus.

Opponents of the Supreme Court’s ruling have already filed a petition with the courts for a re-hearing and to delay the implementation of same-sex marriage until after November.

Meanwhile, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger appears to have welcomed the Supreme Court’s decision:

“You know, I’m wishing everyone good luck with their marriages and I hope that California’s economy is booming because everyone is going to come here and get married,” he was quoted as saying at an event in San Francisco on Wednesday by the Sacramento Bee .