WASHINGTON (AP) – A California same-sex marriage bill that won historic committee passage last month probably won’t go any farther this year, state Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez said.

“I think we have to pick our battles, and it’s probably not a fight we engage in this year,” the Los Angeles Democrat told reporters during a trip to Washington to meet with lawmakers.

“But certainly I think during my tenure I would like to see people get the respect that they deserve regardless of who they love,” said Nunez, who supports the bill.

The measure passed the Assembly Judiciary Committee last month, marking the first formal vote in support of same-sex marriage by a legislative body in the United States.

The legislation, authored by Assemblymember Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, would amend the state family code to define marriage as between “two persons” instead of between a man and a woman. It passed the committee 8-3 with all Democrats in favor and all Republicans opposed.

The bill is set for a hearing before the Appropriations Committee later this month.

Leno said he was still working for votes but acknowledged it was an uphill battle.

“Should it not happen this year I will be back the first of next year with a new bill because I am wholly committed to ending this discriminatory practice,” he said.

The Judiciary Committee vote came a month after the California Supreme Court ordered San Francisco officials to stop issuing marriage licenses to gay and lesbian couples, which they’d been doing under orders from that city’s mayor.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, a Republican, didn’t take a position on the bill, but said in March during an appearance on “The Tonight Show With Jay Leno” that same-sex marriages would be “fine with me” if the courts or the voters change state law and make them legal.