By Eddie Gutierrez

The political pinball game in Sacramento has been anything but usual. To the naked eye, it may appear legislators have run out of quarters -- failing to review several key pieces of legislation, including many LGBT civil rights bills, before their month-long summer recess.

From the halls of the state Capitol, the Senate is flexing its muscle and placing all Assembly bills at a standstill until the Assembly passes all Senate legislation. This will result in the Senate having something to hold over the Assembly's leadership. If the Assembly bills were passed by the Senate and sent to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger before recess, the Senate would have lost a bargaining chip that they may need in the final month of session.

But there may be another reason for the delay, one that is not being talked about widely. The Democratic leadership, still negotiating with the governor over several measures that may appear on the ballot during this November's special election, might not want to be sending progressive legislation to the governor until after these negotiations are concluded. Under this strategy, they are denying the governor the ability to sign legislation that could help him regain some of his lost appeal with moderates and possibly reverse his downward spiral in the polls.

Equality California, Sen. Sheila Kuehl, Assemblymember Mark Leno, and the rest of the LGBT Legislative Caucus chalked up enough points on July 12 to pass the marriage equality bill through the Senate Judiciary Committee with a 5-2 vote. The bill now sits before the Appropriations Committee for a vote on Aug. 15 and will hopefully then go to the full Senate by the end of August. If passed by the Senate, the bill will head back to the Assembly for another attempt at reaching 41 votes.

On the same day the bill was heard by the Judiciary Committee, the Los Angeles City Council passed a resolution supporting statewide marriage equality legislation. The vote occurred just in time to allow a lobbyist from the city council to tell the committee about its support. Los Angeles city councilmembers, especially Eric Garcetti and newly elected and openly gay Bill Rosendahl, worked behind-the-scenes with Council President Alex Padilla to pass the measure unanimously, 11-0. Procedurally, there is no such thing as abstentions. If city representatives choose not to vote, they can leave the room, which was the case with Councilmembers Bernard Parks (who supports civil unions) and Greig Smith, who both left the room to allow for the unanimous tally.

This resolution has been in the pipeline in Los Angeles for several years, and moved forward with the help of the Silver Lake Neighborhood Council, EQCA, and, in particular, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's long and solid support of marriage equality. There was also much discussion after testimony about the new data from the LGBT think tank, the Williams Project at University of California/Los Angeles School of Law. A recent Williams Project study indicates that one in four same-sex couples in California identify as Latino, representing a significant percentage of LGBT families in California and a larger Latino LGBT family population than in any other state. Half of all Latino same-sex couples are raising their own children, and from a socioeconomic perspective, share very similar experiences in terms of employment rates, household incomes, and rate of military service as their heterosexual Latino family counterparts. More likely to live in Latino communities, Latino same-sex couples and their families are breaking the stereotypes that LGBT people are monolithic, white, affluent, single, and without children.

With changing demographics, the real question here is the role of Latino leaders, in particular Mayor Villaraigosa, and their influence on regional and statewide politics. The new mayor has brought great optimism and energy to Los Angeles; his infectious hope and energy has certainly impacted local Latino communities. It remains to be seen, however, whether Villaraigosa's belief in marriage equality will impact Latino legislators who abstained on the marriage bill the first time around, including Assemblymembers Gloria Negrete-McLeod and Simon Salinas; or legislators, such as Assemblymembers Joe Baca Jr., Bonnie Garcia, Juan Vargas, and Juan Arambula, who voted no but can still be swayed. With 11 other Latino Assemblymembers supporting the bill, there is a growing movement to focus on coalition leaders, such as Villaraigosa, who can help bridge the gap, provide political cover for those legislators that are worried about their re-election prospects, and help secure the three remaining votes needed for passage in the Assembly.

During the Senate Judiciary Committee Sen. Liz Figueroa -- known for making few statements -- was very vocal and proud she would be able to tell her grandchildren she supported equality. Sen. Gilbert Cedillo made a similar, heartfelt statement, subtly referring to the voter-passed, anti-gay marriage Proposition 22.

"It is clear that the people have spoken, and sometimes people are not always right," Cedillo said. "Slavery may still be alive today -- it was popular but it was wrong. Not allowing women to vote was popular -- but it was wrong. The ban on biracial marriage was popular -- but it was wrong. As legislators, our job is not only to just represent our constituents, but we owe the Constitution [its validation by our] leadership."

Opinion leaders from all backgrounds are also being encouraged to put their muscle into the political pinball game that may mean a bouncing ball to some, but means equality to the rest of us. In the next few months, the United Farm Workers and other Latino groups will be working with LGBT statewide efforts to educate Latinos about marriage equality, especially in the Central Valley and Southern California. The UFW's long-standing committment to economic and social justice, pioneered by labor activist Cesar Chavez, will mean his family's civil rights legacy will go head-to-head with religious right extremists who want to misuse the tradition of Catholicism among Latinos to further their anti-gay agenda. But this match up is no game. It is the fight of our lives.