Well, we're one step closer to being ahead of the curve on yet another issue here in California thanks to the efforts of State Senator Mark Leno, D - San Francisco. The farm bill that he gutted to expedite a vote on marriage equailty, AB 849, has passed, 21 to 15. Now it goes on to the full Assembly for concurrence. If passed there, it lands firmly on the 'moderate' lap of Herr Governator (who, funny, had to watch helplessly as the "Schwarzenegger Museum" in Austria was unceremoniously shut down recently).

AB 849 amends the Family Code to define a marriage as a civil contract between two persons, instead of a civil contract between a man and a woman. The bill also reaffirms that no religious institution would ever be required to solemnize marriages contrary to its fundamental beliefs.

Full text of the press release after the jump. Thanks to Shane from the Mayor's Office of Housing for the forward!

Still from Pursuit of Equality.