Members of San Diegans Against Marriage Discrimination, Freedom to Marry and The Center, as well as a local lesbian couple who articulated their desire to be able to marry in their hometown, met with San Diego Assessor/Recorder/County Clerk Gregory Smith and members of his staff on Wednesday, April 7, to discuss marriage equality. Both sides agreed that the meeting was a success.

“We had an honest, frank discussion of the issue and we both made our positions clear,” Smith said. “They stressed how important marriage is for them, and the Assessor/Recorder/County Clerk’s Office stressed how important it is for us to follow California law. Each side acknowledged the importance of their respective positions.”

Two SDAMD coalition co-chairs, Richard Valdez and Barbara Cox, a constitutional expert and member of the Freedom to Marry steering committee, were present to discuss the repercussions of the proposed federal marriage amendment, while fellow SDAMD members Delores Jacobs and Robert Gleason of The Center attended to represent the ongoing struggle for marriage equality.

“We wanted to give them information from both the amendment issues and the marriage equality issues,” Valdez said. “What we wanted is to engage in a dialogue with him to help educate him on the importance of marriage equality, the importance of issuances of marriage licenses that were gender neutral… that there are lots of people who are interested in that issue, so that he can understand the significance of what happened in San Francisco, and how we would certainly like that in San Diego.”

Valdez said the group also wanted to educate Smith about the difference between the marriage equality issue, that is at the center of San Francisco’s pending litigation with the state, and defeating the proposed federal constitutional amendment that would define marriage as between one man and one woman, which is the sole focus of SDAMD. “There is a distinction there, and that is why we wanted the coalition folks to be there and the marriage equality folks, so he sees the difference physically with people as well as the issue,” Valdez said. “… They were very receptive to it, very accommodating to us, and we felt that it was a good exchange.”

Two key people from the assessor’s office who specifically deal with marriage licensing issues and a county legal expert assisted Smith at the meeting. Besides issuing marriage licenses, Smith’s office handles tax issues, birth and death certificates, divorce, property taxes and assessment, notary and fictitious business name licenses, and other aspects of county records.

The County of San Diego does not interpret marriage licensing laws along gender-neutral guidelines. They base their interpretation on California Family Code Section 308.5 – the “California Defense of Marriage Act” better known as Prop. 22. “So essentially, they’re saying that they’re following what they interpret the law to be, and until there is a change in that law or a clarification from the California supreme court, that’s what they will continue to do,” Valdez said, adding that if the law were to change, Smith indicated in the meeting that his office would willingly accommodate that change. “We wanted to make sure that we got that assurance; that if there was a change in the law they definitely would follow it, and they definitely gave us that assurance.”

The group also wanted to ensure that Smith’s office was aware of local marriage equality supporters when making public comments. “Early on, when Gavin Newsom started issuing gender-neutral marriage licenses, I think that a comment from Mr. Smith was offered in the media that he didn’t see the numbers of people interested here in San Diego for that sort of action,” Valdez said. “That gave us the opportunity to let him know of the importance of the issue and he definitely understood that it was a big issue – that he does recognize that there are lots of folks that are interested in that issue… I think he is going to be more sensitive to that sort of thing.”

Smith agreed that since that time, his office has heard from many local people regarding same-sex marriages. “What I said was that at that time – which was at the very beginning of the marriages in San Francisco – not many people had contacted our office regarding same-sex marriages,” Smith clarified. “I did not intend to imply that there were not many people in San Diego who were interested in this issue. I now know that there is a lot of interest.”