In an interview, Councilwoman Donna Frye said she will support a “friend of the court” brief endorsing same-sex marriage on Sept. 18 after voting against the idea Tuesday.
Assuming all other council members maintain their positions from Tuesday’s vote, the ayes would have it on the proposal. If approved, the City Attorney’s Office would be directed to send a letter to the state Supreme Court on behalf of the city of San Diego supporting a pending attempt to legalize same-sex marriage in California.
Frye said she only voted against the proposal Tuesday because she felt the public did not have enough time to review the proposal. The proposal appeared on a meeting agenda that was posted publicly last Wednesday, Aug. 29, which was more than enough time under the state’s public meeting laws.
But Frye said the same-sex marriage issue was controversial enough to warrant a longer period of time for residents to learn about the proposal and contact council offices accordingly with their opinion. She also said she was disappointed in the one-minute time limit Council President Scott Peters afforded to speakers at Tuesday’s hearing. Peters said he was minimizing public input on the proposal because the council had many issues on its agenda that day.
Frye thought that, if the council approved it Tuesday, opponents of the same-sex marriage brief would have been shortchanged.
“We’re talking about equal rights, right? That doesn’t preclude people who disagree with your opinion,” she said.