Times they are a changin'

[By Robert Rogers
[Staff Writer

Larry Walker announced the week prior that two of the three marriage locations would be closed in anticipation of June 17, the first day of gay marriage in San Bernardino County.

His explanation was broad and non-specific: By centralizing all ceremonies at the Hall of Records in San Bernardino, he could keep close watch on the new process and make sure all went smooth.

Smooth it went, and few second-guessed Walker for playing it safe or reducing to one the number of government marriage spots in the nation's geographically-largest county.

This is, after-all, San Bernardino County, a place not known as a bastion of gay culture, but for a chiseled Western creed that is as rugged as the landscape.

It's a place known for solid red-state conservatism, having gone to only one Democrat for president since Lyndon Johnson in 1964.

For so long this has been cowboy country, a place where Ronald Reagan enjoyed near two-to-one electoral landslides.

Deep roots of conservatism run through this county where Roy Rogers rode into the sunset.

But now California has nearly 110,000 same-sex households, according to 2006 census figures, and more than 10,000 same-sex couples reside in the San Bernardino-Riverside-Ontario metropolitan area.

The majority is probably in Riverside County, where same-sex marriages on June 17 outnumbered those in San Bernardino County by about 30 percent.

And while the gap has narrowed over the years as the county has become more populous and more minority, registered Republicans still outnumber registered Democrats, 300,426 to 290,133.

But as an evolution has swept the population, it's tides haven't reached the highest offices in the county.

Four of five current members of the County Board of Supervisors are Republican. So is Neil Derry, who will take office in December after defeating Dennis Hansberger.

Derry and 4th District Supervisor Gary Ovitt have taken public stances against same-sex marriage, but the other four members declined comment repeatedly last week, opting to not take a position on the basis that they have no control over the state Supreme Court's ruling.

Ovitt and Derry each said the court overstepped its bounds in overturning proposition 22, a ballot measure affirming marriage between as between a "man and woman" that 61 percent of state voters passed in 2000.

But 2008 is a new year.

That some elected officials shy away from public positions on divisive topics should be no surprise, said Cal State San Bernardino political scientist Scott Zentner.

"Politicians are always defensive in nature, especially incumbents," Zentner said. "Right now, it's flat-out trendy to be liberal on many issues, even in San Bernardino County, and the trends are so powerful that many Republicans feel they can't even go to their own playbook on issues like gay marriage."

While the staying power of the current conditions can't be known, it seems clear the conditions favor same-sex equality issues more than they did just a few years ago.

In 2000, polls showed nearly 6 in 10 voters favored Proposition 22, while Latinos and blacks favored the anti-gay marriage measure by even stronger majorities, a stark reminder that these historically Democratic groups would depart from party lines on gay issues.

The county has changed even more pronouncedly since Oct. 1999, when the Board of Supervisors voted down a proposal to grant domestic partner employment benefits to families of gay employees. The vote came just a week after then-Governor Gray Davis signed legislation allowing local governments to offer the benefits.

Today, domestic partners of gay employees in the county are entitled to benefits, thanks to a state law that compelled all counties to offer them beginning in 2005.

While there is no fresh legislation the board is weighing today, its general reticence on the issue may speak volumes about the popularity of the homosexual community's equal rights cause.

"The way gay marriages here have been surrounded by celebration more than backlash is really an incredible statement of the awareness and acceptance of the gay community, especially given the very conservative attitudes of city and county government," said Rev. David Kalke of Central City Lutheran Mission in San Bernardino, a church that drew sharp controversy in 2004 for hiring a lesbian pastor.

Kalke said the lack organized backlash to same-sex marriage and county leaders' avoidance of the issue was evidence of the growing divide between the public and its leadership.

"County government is much more conservative than its constituency," Kalke said.
But not all leaders are mum on gay marriage.

Rikke Van Johnson, a San Bernardino city councilman and deacon at a prominent African American church, exemplifies the split that same-sex marriage can open among leaders and voting blocs.

Typically, Johnson is arguably the most liberal member of the city council, consistently backing community and youth development spending and criticizing police on behalf of his mostly minority constituency.

But Johnson is conservative on marriage. His deep religious convictions prevent him from accepting marriage between same-sex couples, he said.

Johnson said he's not surprised that popular backlash has been mild, nor that local elected leaders have shied from public pronouncement.

"I'm saddened, but we're living in an apathetic community," Johnson said. "And elected leaders on down need to make their positions clear. Folks need to get off the fence on this issue."

Whether the urgency will build and the voters will rebuke the court by passing a Constitutional amendment defining marriage as between a "man and woman" in November remains to be seen. But in San Bernardino County, historically one of the reddest in the state, the tea leaves are difficult to read.

"I haven't seen any protests at all," said Supervisor Ovitt, the only current supervisor to speak publicly about same-sex marriage, calling it a violation of the "sanctity of marriage and the will of the people."

"I must admit, I am somewhat surprised by that."