SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) - A bill to legalize gay marriage in California died Thursday after it failed to gain the simple majority needed to pass the state Assembly.
In the second and final time in two days before the 80-member house, the tally was four votes shy of a majority.
Nearly a quarter of majority Democrats either joined Republicans in opposing the bill or chose not to take a stand on the hot-button topic, now headed for likely showdowns in the state's courts and at the ballot box. The bill would have amended the state family code to define marriage between "two persons" instead of between a man and a woman.
Opponents of gay marriage have begun the process to put a constitutional amendment before voters that would ban gay nuptials and strip gay couples of domestic partnership benefits. They hope to get the initiative on the June 2006 ballot.
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