Arnold Schwarzenegger … LGBT Hero?

Arnold Schwarzenegger has had an inconsistent record re: gays and lesbians. As a candidate, he famously said, “I think that gay marriage is something that should be between a man and a woman," which is an interesting misstatement and certainly great fodder for punch lines, but not exactly the kind of support California’s gays and lesbians were hoping for in Gray Davis’ replacement.

But what a difference seven years and a few ballot initiatives make. The Governor spoke out against Prop 8 when it was on the ballot (although he’d previously refused to sign laws legalizing same-sex marriage) and today he filed an official brief to end the stay on Judge Walker’s ruling that Prop 8 is unconstitutional. The brief says that “there is no governmental or public interest in continuing a ban on gay marriage after Walker's decision." The Governor, in other words, wants gays and lesbians to be able to start marrying immediately.

Wait — what was that? A Republican elected official making a special effort to clear the way for gays and lesbians to marry? Let’s back up a step and go back over this. On Wednesday this week, Judge Vaughn Walker released his official decision that Proposition 8 is unconstitutional. But at the same time, he put a stay on his own decision, so no new marriages would be allowed to happen until the dust settled. The stay required briefs from both sides in the case to offer arguments for either allowing marriages to begin again or to keep them on hold through at least the first appeal (which has already been filed). The judge would decide whether and for how long to keep actual marriages on hold, in spite of the fact that he'd already ruled LGBT people had the right to marry.

The anti-equality side had already petitioned for a permanent stay, even before the judge released his ruling (hm... panic much, ProtectMarriage?). The pro-marriage side hasn’t said publicly what they’ll file, but it’s hard to imagine any reason for denying rights that have now been confirmed in Federal Court. (Let the wedding bells ring!) And no one knows how the judge might rule on this one, which really comes down to a question of whether he thinks it's more reasonable to allow marriages now, knowing that this might be stopped again later, as happened with Prop 8 in the first place (and creating yet another weird class of people, like the 36,000 of us who got married during those sweet six months in 2008). The other choice would be to keep the whole thing on hold until a final decision is made, possibly even until there's a Supreme Court decision, which would require everyone to hold their breath for another year or two.

Governor Schwarzenegger doesn't think that makes any sense. The State of California, he says, is ready to start issuing those licenses today, and has no reason not to. The amazing thing is, no one demanded that he weigh in at all at this point, so his decision to file a brief with Judge Walker represents a pure act of support and belief. He'd already made an official statement Wednesday applauding Judge Walker’s decision and saying “this decision affirms the full legal protections and safeguards I believe everyone deserves.” And now he’s taken a giant step further to demand why equality needs to wait even one day longer.

Yay, Governor Schwarzenegger! You’ve proved yourself to be a fierce advocate for justice after all!

Photo credit: Jurvetson