Schwarzenegger Orders Halt to Gay Marriages

http://www.sacbee.com/content/politics/story/8312758p-9243193c.html

Governor seeks to halt gay marriages
He wants state to secure a court order prohibiting S.F.'s issuance of licenses.

By Herbert A. Sample -- Bee San Francisco Bureau
Published 2:15 a.m. PST Saturday, February 21, 2004

SAN FRANCISCO - Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger intervened Friday in the controversy over gay marriage, asking the state attorney general to take legal steps to stop San Francisco from issuing wedding licenses to same-sex couples.
The governor's action, in a letter to Attorney General Bill Lockyer, came after a second judge denied requests to stop the issuing of the marriage licenses.

Schwarzenegger directed Lockyer "to take immediate steps" to get a definitive court ruling declaring the city's actions illegal.

The governor said the city's granting of marriage licenses to gay and lesbian couples presents "an imminent risk to civil order" and warned that "thousands of people appear to be seeking the same unlawful certification as each day passes."

Schwarzenegger drew a standing ovation from about 700 Republicans at their state party convention in Burlingame on Friday evening when he announced he'd sent the letter to Lockyer.

"It's time for the city of San Francisco to start respecting state law," he said. "It's time for the city to stop traveling down this dangerous path of ignoring the rule of law."