Limit on Marriages. Initiative Statute.
	Rebuttal to Argument in Favor of Proposition 22

Arguments on this page are the opinions of the authors and have not been checked for accuracy by any official agency.

THE HIDDEN AGENDA

The proponents of Proposition 22 want you to think that it is simple. That there is no "hidden agenda".

But if it's so simple, why are they spending millions of dollars to put this measure on the ballot and convince you to vote for something they say is "common sense"? Why are they spending millions of dollars to convince you to vote for something that is already law in California?

PROPOSITION 22 WILL HELP DENY HOSPITAL VISITATION RIGHTS

The proponents of Proposition 22 say that Proposition 22 doesn't deny hospital visitation or inheritance rights for lesbians and gays. But in Florida and Virginia, arch-conservative legal organizations have used similar laws as tools in court to deny lesbians and gays fundamental rights--like the right to visit a sick or injured partner in the hospital, the right to inheritance, or the right to health insurance.

A SOLUTION IN SEARCH OF A PROBLEM

You don't need to support marriage for lesbian and gay couples to oppose Proposition 22. As the proponents of Prop 22 admit, "California law already says only a man and a woman may marry." That won't change if Proposition 22 passes. Proposition 22 is just another needless law that allows government to interfere with our personal lives.

MARRIAGE MATTERS

Of course marriage matters. But so do fairness and tolerance. Proposition 22 will do nothing to strengthen our families, our communities, or to strengthen the commitment of couples involved in marriage. It will only divide California.

GIL GARCETTI
District Attorney, County of Los Angeles

DELAINE EASTIN
California State Superintendent of Public Instruction

THE RIGHT REVEREND WILLIAM E. SWING
Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of California

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