My fellow members, gay and lesbian people fall in love, we settle down, we commit our lives to one another. If our goal is to teach our children to model self-respect, is it not counter productive to dishonor them and their parents or their families? Fellow members this is a bill whose time has come.

This bill is only coming about this year because of the financial pressure from the federal government.

This is a bill whose time has come. Gay and lesbian people fall in love. We settle down. We commit our lives to one another. We raise our children. We protect them. We try to be good citizens.

At its core, this bill is about affording all Californians dignity and respect.