Same-sex marriage supporters may have their backs against the wall, but they’re not giving up just yet. Although it appears Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger will most likely veto Assembly Bill 849 – the Religious Freedom and Civil Marriage Protection Act – Equality California (EQCA) recently launched an educational campaign and television commercial to attempt to convince him to do the opposite.

Upon the governor’s request, an hour-long meeting at Schwarzenegger’s office in Sacramento between EQCA, marriage equality supporters and the governor’s senior staff members occurred on Sept. 21. Schwarzenegger did not attend the meeting, but his interim chief of staff Peter Siggins, deputy chief of staff Donna Lucas and senior advisor Bonnie Reiss did. EQCA staff included executive director Geoffrey Kors and legislative director Steve Hansen.

EQCA presented the governor’s staff with reasons why he should sign AB 849. The governor’s staff reiterated that Schwarzenegger still intends to veto the bill.

Schwarzenegger has gone on record in the past in support of same-sex marriage, but said he plans to veto AB 849 because he thinks it’s an issue that should be decided by voters or the courts. Spokesperson Margita Thompson told The Associated Press last week that Schwarzenegger’s decision to veto AB 849 still stands.

“They were clearly moved at different times by the stories being told or the issues that were brought up and how they affect us. Ultimately, the clearest indication of how successful or not the meeting was [will be] what actually comes out of it,” Hansen told the Gay & Lesbian Times. “We can talk all we want, but we really need the governor to stand up and lead, and right now he’s not doing that. At least he’s not standing up for the rights of all Californians in the way that he sort of campaigned and said he would.”

Three other pieces of GLBT-related legislation passed by the Legislature were discussed at the Sept. 21 meeting, all of which also await the governor’s signature. In addition, ECQA sought a pledge from Schwarzenegger that he will publicly oppose two proposed constitutional amendments seeking to ban same-sex marriage that may appear on the June 2006 ballot.

Hours before their meeting with Schwarzenegger, EQCA unveiled a television commercial comparing the governor’s impending veto to the discriminatory actions of the late former Alabama governor George Wallace, who was a proponent of segregation policies in the early 1960s.

The 30-second commercial launched on cable television stations in Los Angeles and Sacramento on Sept. 22, the day before AB 849 reached Schwarzenegger’s desk. The commercial was produced by director Rob Reiner’s Castle Rock Entertainment and was funded by Equality California. Schwarzenegger has until Oct. 9 to sign, veto or let the bill become law without his signature.

“The point of the commercial is to continue to build pressure on the governor to sign the bill,” Kors told The Associate Press. “His legacy and his place in history is very important to him. We need to remind the governor he is at that place.”

Images of John F. Kennedy, Jr., Robert Kennedy – late uncles of Maria Shriver, Schwarzenegger’s wife – and civil rights labor leader Cesar Chavez appeared on the screen as the American and Californian flags waved in the background.

“Those who have made America great are the ones who have brought America together – who have stood for fairness and equality and against discrimination. Now Governor Schwarzenegger will make a decision for which he will forever be remembered,” a narrator states in the commercial. “He can stand up for the basic rights of all Californians and sign the marriage equality act, or he can stand with the voices of discrimination. Governor, the choice is yours. Be a hero.”

During a press conference call on Sept. 21, Kors, Assemblymember Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, Dolores Huerta, co-founder of the United Farm Workers, and Alice Huffman, California president of the NAACP, discussed the commercial.

The Kennedy brothers and Chavez “weighed with their own heart whether it was more important to seize this historic opportunity to vote for equality as opposed to fear of political perceptions they thought may occur with their vote,” said Leno during the conference call. “We’re asking Governor Schwarzenegger to do the same, to be a profile in courage.”

AB 849, sponsored by EQCA, is authored by Leno, Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez, D-Los Angeles, and 30 co-authors.

After Schwarzenegger announced his plan to veto AB 849, EQCA launched a campaign called 12 Days of Equality, where messages about civil rights and marriage equality stressed the importance of passing AB 849. The campaign, which ran from Sept. 11 to Sept. 23, featured e-mails and “messages of the day” sent to marriage equality supporters urging them to take specific actions, such as talking to friends and family members about marriage equality and mailing postcards supporting AB 849 to the governor.

On Sept. 23, the final day of the campaign, statewide elected officials wrote an open letter to Schwarzenegger to urge him not to veto AB 849. Lt. Governor Cruz Bustamante, State Treasurer Phil Angelides, State Controller Steve Westly and Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi all signed the letter.

“Given the legal debate over the meaning and impact of Proposition 22, which amended a different section of the Family Code than AB 849 does, and your stated understanding of it, we recognize that you do not believe you have the ability to sign the bill,” the letter states.

Proposition 22 created a statute stating “only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California” and was approved by California voters in 2000.

AB 849 would not change Prop. 22, but would overturn a law passed by the Legislature in the 1970s that defines marriage as between a man and a woman. Marriage equality supporters argue Prop. 22 only bans California from recognizing out-of-state same-sex marriages, not from allowing them to occur within California. Opponents claim the statute applies to all marriages, which has led to some confusion.

“People who actually deal with this stuff every day, like those in the governor’s office, I don’t think they’re very confused about it,” said Hansen. “… Their opinion is not always in the best interest of our community. I think they have their own agenda to justify a detail.”

The sixth day of the EQCA campaign focused on marriage as a nonpartisan issue and featured Gary Graton, a lifelong Republican who feels let down by the Schwarzenegger’s decision to veto AB 849.

“Will you demonstrate to all who cast you a vote ‘your responsibility,’” Graton wrote, “or will you campaign for popularity, and lose my support?”

The ninth day of the campaign focused on service members who must remain silent about their sexuality due to the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy. A female member of the Navy spoke about her inability to be open about her relationship and to register as a domestic partner because doing so would violate “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” There are a plethora of benefits same-sex couples are denied without a legal marriage.

“If Sherri and I could legally marry, I could provide her and our child with medical benefits. If I am killed in Iraq, Sherri would be informed as my next of kin,” she wrote. “She would be entitled to my Social Security benefits and special military spouse survivor pay. We could be buried next to each other in a veterans’ cemetery.”