Mrs. Governator Says No on Prop. 8, but Where's Arnold?

Posted by Teddy Partridge, Firedoglake at 12:47 PM on October 27, 2008.

California First Lady Maria Shriver revealed today in an interview on KNBC-TV in Los Angeles that she will vote against Proposition 8, which would eliminate marriage equality. Her husband, Arnold Schwarzenegger, previously announced he would oppose the measure but has been silent on it recently.

LOS ANGELES -- California's first lady says she is voting against a ballot initiative that would prohibit same-sex couples from getting married in California.


Maria Shriver said in an interview with KNBC-TV in Los Angeles that she is voting no on Proposition 8.


Shriver said, "I believe in people's right to choose a partner that they love, and that's a decision that I have come to, and I have felt that way for a long time."


Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger also opposes Prop. 8.

I wonder if the state's first couple has donated money to the NO campaign? And I wonder if the governor, who promised the Log Cabin Republicans last spring that he would "be there" to defeat the measure, will take any time from further destruction to the state's budget to speak out this final week against hate?

Back in April, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger vowed to fight any attempt to pass a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage. "I will always be there to fight against that because it should never happen," he told the Log Cabin Republicans at their San Diego convention -- a month before the state Supreme Court recognized the right of gays and lesbians to marry. And after that ruling, the governor again promised to oppose the effort to take away that right -- now known as Proposition 8.


But Schwarzenegger has been awfully quiet about an issue that could use his visible presence. Not that he has switched camps. He just hasn't been showing up to remind Californians that they generally champion expansive civil rights, not the elimination of such rights. He hasn't been around to reassure voters that their churches won't have to conduct same-sex marriages and their preschoolers won't have to attend gay weddings.


He attends rallies for Proposition 11, on redistricting, but is quiet about opposing Prop. 8.

Arnold built his California political persona around education. He should speak out about the lies being told about Prop 8 about schoolchildren. And he should speak out now.


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Tagged as: california, arnold schwarzenegger, prop 8, maria shriver