CALIFORNIA; Gay Rights Bills Signed By Governor:
Gay rights groups on Monday applauded the governor for signing bills regarding gay marriage and honoring a slain leader, moves they see as key civil rights statements. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger late Sunday signed into law a bill that recognizes same-sex couples legally married outside California.
He also approved creating Harvey Milk Day on May 22 — Milk's birthday. The law recognizes Milk as the nation's first openly gay man elected to public office in a major U.S. city.
“It is extremely important to recognize this historic figure in the LGBT civil rights movement,” said George Zander, Coachella Valley field manager for Equality California, a group that works on behalf of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people.
“I wasn't sure whether he would sign the bill, but since it is more about his ‘legacy' than anything else now, I felt he would do the right thing and sign it.”
In the gay marriage bill, all legally married same-sex couples who married outside California before Proposition 8 passed in November are recognized as legally married in California, said Geoff Kors, executive director of Equality California and part-time Palm Springs resident.
“And even more importantly,” Kors said, “that all same-sex couples who get married in other states or countries after Prop. 8 passed be treated the same as married couples with the exception of use of the word ‘married' for legal purposes.”
Approved statewide by 52 percent of California voters, Proposition 8 defines marriage as between a man and woman.
“In short, this measure honors the will of the People in enacting Proposition 8 while providing important protections to those unions legally entered into in other states,” Schwarzenegger wrote.
The Harvey Milk Day bill aims to educate Californians about the former San Francisco City Supervisor. “Harvey Milk Day” will not be a formal state holiday, so government employees will not be given the day off.
The bill instead calls for the day to be observed by public schools as a day of special significance. Teachers will be encouraged to conduct exercises recalling Milk's life and contributions to the state. State Sen. Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, who wrote the bill, said Milk was a human rights leader in the same way Cesar Chavez championed Latino farm workers and the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. sought equal treatment for blacks. Assemblyman V. Manuel Pérez, D-Coachella, also was pleased.
State Sen. Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, who wrote the bill, said Milk was a human rights leader in the same way Cesar Chavez championed Latino farm workers and the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. sought equal treatment for blacks.
Assemblyman V. Manuel Pérez, D-Coachella, also was pleased.
“I am pleasantly surprised by the governor's signatures of these two bills. I'm glad he recognizes their significance.”
Opponents disagreed.
“Sadly, children in public schools will have even more in-your-face, homosexual-bisexual-transsexual indoctrination,” said Randy Thomasson, president of SaveCalifornia.com.
“This provides the strong impetus yet for loving parents to remove their children from anti-family public schools.”
Schwarzenegger declined to sign a similar bill last year, saying Milk was only a local figure.
Since then, Sean Penn won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of the San Francisco Supervisor in “Milk,” and President Barack Obama awarded Milk posthumously the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor.
In July, Schwarzenegger and first lady Maria Shriver announced Milk was among the 13 inductees into the California Hall of Fame for 2009.
While in office, Milk was responsible for passing San Francisco's first gay-rights ordinance and helping defeat an initiative that sought to ban gays and lesbians from teaching in public schools.
Former Supervisor Dan White, who was angered that the mayor refused to re-appoint him to the seat he resigned, assassinated Milk and San Francisco Mayor George Moscone in November 1978 .
Gay rights groups delivered a petition signed by nearly 40,000 Californians urging him to sign the bill.
The Associated Press Reporting
Gay people have been fighting stereotypes and dispelling misconceptions for years, including the crazy notion that there's a "cure" for their sexual preference.
But, according to current California law, there's a fix for the gay. State lawmakers are finally looking to change that outdated and outlandish belief and on Tuesday, a California legislative committee advanced a bill that would repeal a state law designed to find the causes and cures for homosexuality.
The law was written in 1950 after a series of sex crimes in Los Angeles. The law states:
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A Florida state senator is pushing for new legislation that would increase tax breaks for the movie industry but deny the same incentives to films featuring gay characters.
Current Florida law grants tax credits on productions considered "family friendly" -- films that omit smoking, sex, nudity or profane language,
But in a bid to attract more movie production to Florida, Republican Rep. Stephen Precourt of Orlando is pushing a bill that would increase the credit and expand the field of disqualified productions as those that include any "exhibit or implied act" of nontraditional family values and gratuitous violence, the Palm Beach Post reported Tuesday.
Precourt said he's not targeting the gay community but that shows with gay characters would not be something he'd want "to invest public dollars in."
"Think of it as like Mayberry," Precourt reportedly told the newspaper, referring to The Andy Griffith Show. "That's when I grew up -- the '60s. That's what life was like. I want Florida to be known for making those kinds of movies: Disney movies for kids and all that stuff. Like it used to be, you know?"
The move has been roundly criticized by opponents, like Ted Howard, executive director for Florida Together, who is quoted by the newspaper saying, "Instituting 1950s-style movie censorship does nothing to support real-life families or help Florida's struggling economy."
The bill has to go through several committees before it reaches the House floor, the Miami New Times reported.
Barring interference from Congress or President Obama, gay marriages will be allowed in Washington, D.C. beginning tomorrow.
The South Carolina city of Charleston became the second in the state to approve GLBT anti-discrimination protections.
President Barack Obama on Wednesday signed and celebrated hate crime legislation that extends protection to people based on sexual orientation, sealing a long-fought victory to gay advocates. The president spoke of a nation becoming a place where "we're all free to live and love as we see fit." 
A bill signed Oct. 12 by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger recognizes as fully married any gay couple in California who got married between April 1, 2001, and Nov. 5, 2008, in a country or state where same-sex marriage is legal.
