Request to Put Gay Marriage Pledge on Agenda Is Denied by Aliso City Council

Alex Gill-Gerards went before the Aliso Viejo City Council on March 7 seeking Mayor Donald Garcia’s support of gay marriage as part of the Mayors for the Freedom to Marry pledge.

So far, 175 mayors across the nation have taken the pledge. Gill-Gerards had hoped would be the next. Since Gill-Gerards’ question wasn’t officially on the agenda, Garcia said he couldn’t address his request.

Gill-Gerards submitted a request to have the pledge be placed on a future agenda after Councilwoman Carmen Cave invited them to so after the March 7 meeting. On Wednesday, Gill-Gerards received a response back from Garcia denying his request. In the letter Garcia said Aliso Viejo is a general law city meaning the mayor does not have the “unilateral authority” to speak on behalf of the City Council or city on matters outside of general operations.

Gill-Gerards said he was disappointed, but not surprised and will keep working to get Garcia’s support. Gill-Gerards delivered a letter to City Hall on Thursday. In the letter, he states that the mayors of West Hollywood, West Sacramento, Windsor, South Lake Tahoe, Pleasanton, Davis, Fremont, Manhattan Beach, Emeryville and Sebastopol have all signed the pledge—even though their cities are all general law.

Alex Gill-Gerards and his husband, Rick Gill-Gerards, met in 2001. They moved to Aliso Viejo in 2008 for its central location and proximity to work. Alex and Rick Gill-Gerards work at Laguna Koi Ponds in Laguna Beach. Alex Gill-Gerards is also attending school to become a paralegal.

Last year the couple travelled to Canada for vacation and a low-key wedding. They plan to have a larger wedding here in California, once gay marriage is legal.

“It makes me mad and sad that our government feels this way,” Alex Gill-Gerards said. “We are just like any other couple.”

Both Alex and Rick Gill-Gerards said they still have hope and know that eventually same sex marriage will be legal in the United States.

Patch attempted to speak with Garcia prior to publication, but he was unavailable.