The California Legislature gave final approval Aug. 23 to Assembly Joint Resolution 85 (AJR 85), opposing any “federal enactment designed to prohibit or restrict the rights, responsibilities, or obligations of same-sex couples.” The move is a first for any state legislature in the nation, and was followed by approval of the GLBT-friendly resolutions AJR 60 and AJR 2208, as well as the GLBT-friendly bills AB 2208, AB 2900 and SB 1234.

“We had a very successful year with the number of bills that we had,” said Steve Hansen, legislative advocate for Equality California. “…We had, for the first time ever, five sponsored pieces of legislation. We’ve never had that many before, and so just that alone was an enormous feat. … What’s even more awesome is that they were all passed. Which, I think, California is the only state that’s ever gotten that many through in one session.”

Led by Assemblymember Mark Leno, AJR 85 was co-authored by more than 40 other members of the Legislature.

“The cool thing about AJR 85 is a lot of people are thinking about it in the realm of the Federal Marriage Amendment (FMA), but it’s really broader than that,” Hansen added. “It opposes any federal enactment… anything that is designed really to take away rights or restrict rights of same-sex couples. … We’re leading the nation right now at a time when people in states like Missouri – where they just lost their constitutional amendment battle – and other states where they’re facing it, they really need some hope. I hate to steal the phrase from Ronald Reagan, but for a lot of people, we really are that kind of beacon on the hill.”

Though the resolution received broad support from labor, civil rights and religious organizations including Pride At Work of Southern California, the ACLU, The Center, PFLAG and the San Francisco Chronicle, it did not receive any support from Republican legislators.

“I know that the hate crimes bill [SB 1234] is the only one that received bipartisan support,” Hansen said. “All of the other bills passed with only the Democratic vote.”

AJR 60 supports of the federal Permanent Partners Immigration Act (PPIA) sponsored by Assemblymember Sally Lieber that seeks to grant U.S. citizens in bi-national same-sex relationships the right to sponsor their partners for immigration – one of the 1,138 federal marriage rights currently denied to same-sex couples. The PPIA would add the words “or permanent partner” each time the word “spouse” appears in immigration law.

Anthony White, chair of Immigration Equality, said the passage of AJR 60 is a huge step for bi-national couples. “While immigration law is the purview of the federal government, this resolution shouts to them, on behalf of 35 million Californians, that we will not stand for immigration discrimination any longer,” he said. “… The PPIA has the largest number of co-sponsors of any piece of immigration legislation currently introduced, and this resolution will hopefully begin to open the eyes of those that are keeping this bill from seeing the light of day at the federal level.”

Sze Tan, co-chair of Marriage Equality California’s San Diego chapter, said the group is also pleased with the PPIA resolution.

“However, this resolution is just a symbolic measure in support of the passage of the federal Permanent Partners Immigration Act, currently H.R.832 in the U.S. House of Representatives and S. 1510 in the U.S. Senate,” she added. “The good thing about this resolution is that it sends a clear message to California members of the U.S. congress that the state of California supports equal immigration rights for same-sex bi-national couples. We are hopeful that Senator Feinstein will join Senator Boxer as a co-sponsor of the PPIA.”

Senator Dianne Feinstein sits on the Judicial Committee that oversees new immigration legislation.

“Because she’s on that committee, she has a really pivotal place to support that legislation and move it forward, but she hasn’t yet endorsed it,” Hansen said. “One of the things we’re hoping to do is show her how much support there was for the legislation in California and hope that she would also support it.”

Copies of AJR 85 and AJR 60, which support federal legislation, will now be sent to the President, Congress and every state legislature.

A date has not been set for the U.S. Senate or Congress to review the PPIA. “I think in this tense election year, they don’t want to tackle that might be controversial like that,” Hansen said. “… There’s a version in the House of Representatives and a version in the U.S. Senate, so they could move forward at any time, but my impression is that the federal process is even more convoluted than our state process.”

AJR 2208 supports the California Insurance Equality Act (AB 2208) sponsored by Assemblymember Christine Kehoe, which would ensure that domestic partners and married spouses are considered equal in all insurance policies issued in the state. AB 2208 is currently before the governor, as is AB 2900, the Omnibus Labor and Employment Act that would amend California’s existing labor and employment nondiscrimination laws to also include age, physical and mental disability and sexual orientation.

“The insurance bill is interesting because it’ll make a big difference for virtually 90 percent of all registered domestic partners, because they’ll have some form of insurance,” Hansen said. “And I would guess that a lot of them would like to treated just like spouses would be treated.”

SB 1234, the Omnibus Hate Crimes Act, would standardize penal codes relating to hate crimes to include hate speech that is “reasonably” feared to result in violence. Four Republicans – Assemblymembers Abel Maldonado, Keith Richman, Shirley Horton and Bonnie Garcia – broke ranks and voted in favor of SB 1234. Both Garcia and Horton, San Diego’s 78th District representative, are up for reelection this year.

The governor has until the end of September to sign or veto the four bills. If they are vetoed, they can be reintroduced in the next legislative session, Hansen said. “We’ve had a very good working relationship with the governor’s office,” he added. “I feel pretty good about the fact that he’s going to sign them.”

AB 1520 is also up for consideration by the governor. The bill would create an 11-member state commission called the California Veteran’s Memorial Commission, comprised mostly of veterans, to consider and approve official state veterans’ memorials. Sponsored by Assemblymember Christine Kehoe, the bill would allow for the creation of GLBT veterans’ memorials, among others.