California voters will decide in November whether to reaffirm marriage rights in the state Constitution and repeal an outdated provision that still defines marriage as between a man and woman.
Middleton, who married her wife in 2013, supports the Proposition 3, and on the campaign trail has been urging others to do the same.
“My marriage was at stake and so many others — I will stand up for our marriage, I will stand up for every marriage,” she said this spring at a campaign event in Palm Springs.
Ochoa Bogh abstained from voting on the measure when it left the state Legislature this year, as did several other fellow Republicans.
She told The Times that she did not support the proposition language because it didn’t include a provision to ensure churches won’t be forced to conduct marriage ceremonies that they don’t agree with.
“We have a right to pursue life, liberty and happiness, whatever that may look like, as long as it doesn’t infringe on someone else’s ability to do the same,” Ochoa Bogh said of her stance on LGBTQ+ rights. “I would never do anything that would be disrespectful to anyone’s life or choices. We all have family members of that nature.”