Action man-turned-politician Arnold Schwarzenegger’s bid to outlaw same-sex marriage in California has been overturned by the state’s Supreme Court.

Officials have ruled that gay marriages are legal unions in the state, and those who wed during a spate of same-sex nuptials at San Francisco’s City Hall in 2004 will be recognised as married couples.

Those marriages were all declared void by officials who were against same-sex marriages.

Governor Schwarzenegger was among those who opposed the gay weddings.

But on Thursday, the Supreme Court officials ruled state laws against same-sex marriage are unconstitutional. In a statement released shortly after the ruling, Schwarzenegger declared he will “respect” and “uphold” the decision.

The former movie star also reiterated previous promises he made to California’s gay community, that he will not support “an amendment to the constitution that would overturn this State Supreme Court ruling”.

California becomes the second U.S. state to legalise same-sex marriage.

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WENN

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has offered his support to angry crewmembers on Ugly Betty, who will lose their jobs when the show moves from Los Angeles to New York.

Producers last week made the decision to relocate the set to make the most of new tax incentives on offer in New York. But the move will leave 300 people out of work, including dry cleaners, caterers and construction firms.

The disgruntled employees grouped together to take out an ad in Hollywood trade paper Variety, appealing to Schwarzenegger to help stop the loss of more business.

Addressing the letter, the governor insists tax incentives have been drawn up – but have yet to be approved by the California legislature.

He insists they are a necessity, if the state wants to keep its status as the home of movies and TV.

He says, “What happened was productions that shifted to other states, didn’t come back to California; they went to Louisiana, they went to Florida, they went to New Mexico because they give great tax incentives.”

Source

WENN

The Governator Arnold Schwarzenegger has given Terminator fans the hope that he could return for a fourth film – if it’s shot in his adopted state.

The Austrian-born superstar isn’t involved in Terminator 4, which will star Pathfinder actress Moon Bloodgood and Christian Bale, but he insists he hasn’t ruled out a return to the franchise.

He says, “I’ve never had a dialogue with anyone about it. But if they shoot the movie in California, I would (be a part of it), yes.”

Charlie’s Angels filmmaker MCG will direct the fourth Terminator, in which Bloodgood will play the female lead, a survivor of a nuclear holocaust that featured at the end of Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines.

The fourth installment will be called Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins. The movie is scheduled to begin principal photography next month.

This news scuppers internet reports from last week, which suggested Terminator 4 had been terminated over production issues.

That rumor suggested Josh Brolin would take Schwarzenegger’s place as a futuristic cyborg.

Source

WENN

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has asked an Ohio museum to return his Austrian army tank so he can reward school children with rides in it. The Austrian-born Terminator star plans to offer inner-city Los Angeles kids the chance to travel in the vintage military vehicle if they stay in school, work hard and avoid drugs.

Schwarzenegger and Warren Motts, the owner of Motts Military Museum in Ohio, obtained the M47 tank from the Austrian government and had it shipped to America in 1999. The actor drove the tank during his one-year of compulsory military service in Austria in 1965. The vehicle was initially displayed in a Columbus, Ohio shopping mall – outside one of Schwarzenegger’s Planet Hollywood restaurants – before it found a more permanent home at the Motts Military Museum in nearby Groveport.

On February 19th), the tank was transported to California, where it now awaits its new morale-boosting tour of duty. Mott says, “I’m pleased we had the opportunity to have it and let people see it. It was neat to have a Hollywood connection.”

WENN