Cardinal Bernard F. Law urged the mayor to veto the measure. Although city employees in such relationships receive limited benefits, these ceremonies have no legal weight because the state of California does not recognize same-sex marriages. Because marriages contracted in one state are recognized in other states, more states are taking action. They are passing or considering legislation that would deny recognition to same-sex marriages contracted in other states. The bills, called The Defense of Marriage Act, define marriage for the purposes of federal agencies and benefit programs as being limited to a legal union between one man and one woman as husband and wife.
Spouse refers only to a person of the opposite sex who is husband or wife.
In L'Osservatore Romano , the Vatican newspaper, moral theologian Father Gino Concetti wrote that state approval of homosexual marriages would legitimate deviant behavior and dilute public morality. The Handbook on Critical Sexual Issues , edited by Donald G. McCarthy and Edward J. Bayer, and published by The Pope John Center, takes note of the problems homosexuals face in attempting to remain celibate. It observes that the stigma society attaches to homosexuality and alienation drives homosexual persons to seek security and dignity in relationships with other homosexuals. She can love homosexual persons, as members of the Body of Christ, even as she calls them to sublimate the sexual energy which leads to homosexual activity. And the Handbook notes the deeper need of any human is for friendship, affection and acceptance.