William J. Knight - Proposition 22

Proposition 22

During his term in the Senate, Knight gained statewide attention in 2000 as the author of Proposition 22, aka the "Knight Initiative," the purpose of which was to ban same-sex marriage: "Only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California." The proposition passed with 61.4% approval and 38.6% against. In 2004, Knight's middle son, David Knight, who is gay, married his partner when San Francisco performed same-sex marriages in defiance of state law. These marriages were later nullified by the California Supreme Court in August 2004 (The two were allegedly estranged from one another up until Pete's death in 2004.). As a statute, Proposition 22 was eventually ruled unconstitutional in 2008. A state constitutional amendment commonly known as Proposition 8, again banned same sex marriage when it was passed later that year. A federal district court later overturned Proposition 8 on August 4, 2010 deeming it unconstitutional. Same sex marriage remains illegal pending an appeal to the federal ruling.