Environmental Defense Fund

Below is the transcript, courtesy of Gov. Schwarzenegger's office, of an exchange he had with a questioner during a press conference Tuesday at the Environmental Defense Fund in San Francisco. The press event was about the environment and energy, but press questions went in a different direction. Schwarzenegger explains his public position on the anti-gay marriage initiative that appears headed to the November ballot. This shows the straddle the governor is doing on the issue, and offers a smart argument that the campaign against the initiative (that is, the campaign to preserve the newly elaborated right for gay couples to marry) might adopt. He's essentially saying that even if your own personal position is against gay marriage, you may not want to enshrine that in the state constitution. And that people may need to consider that there's an equal protection problem in denying the right to marry to gay couples. Bottom line: it's more coercive to ban gay marriage than to permit it, even if you don't like it. I suspect that may just be a winning political argument in California. It's an adult, nuanced position, and a responsible way for someone who wants to represent all the people to talk about it.

GOVERNOR:                                                 Yes?