Just before midnight, Sunday, October 11, 2009, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed SB 572, the bill to recognize Harvey Milk. Vetoed last year, the Governor gave no public reason for signing this bill. Previously he had said Harvey Milk should be honored locally. In the past year, Milk was inducted into the California Hall of Fame, was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Obama, and a major motion picture of his time in San Francisco was released, earning Sean Penn a Best Actor Oscar for his portrayal of Milk.
Also signed was a bill to recognize civil unions and same sex marriages performed in other states as valid civil unions here in California.
In a signing message, Schwarzenegger said California will not recognize the couples as married but will “provide the same legal protections that would otherwise be available to couples that enter into civil unions or domestic partnerships out-of-state. 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.”
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