An openly gay lawmaker has reintroduced a bill seeking to legalise gay marriage in California as State lawmakers kicked off the new legislative session on Monday.

San Francisco Assemblyman Mark Leno, a Democrat who is openly gay, is not wasting any time as he reintroduced legislation that would allow gay couples to marry in the state of California on this first day of the new session. The proposed bill would require the state to recognise marriage as a civil contract but would not force churches to honor same-sex unions.

In 2005, Leno authored a nearly identical gay marriage bill legalising same sex marriages that became the first bill of its kind to pass a legislative body in the United States. The bill passed both the Assembly and the State Senate, but was vetoed by Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

According to a spokesman, Schwarzenegger is said to support domestic partnerships but oppose same-sex marriage. He has said it is up to voters or the courts, not lawmakers, to settle the contentious issue of gay marriage. California voters approved an initiative defining marriage as between a man and a woman in 2000.

Leno called on the state's political leaders to "rise up out of the shadows of inequality and be counted, on this important civil rights issue by using their powers to put an end to discrimination against all people."

California law does not permit gay marriage, but gay couples who register as domestic partners are given most of the same rights as married couples.

A Superior Court in San Francisco ruled last year that having separate rules for gay and straight couples was unconstitutional. But an appeals court reversed that decision in October, saying it was up to the Legislature, not the courts, to decide whether to change the traditional definition of marriage.

California is considered one of the most gay-friendly states in the US alongside Vermont and Connecticut which have passed legislation allowing more strictly defined "civil unions" while Massachusetts is the only state to grant full marriage rights to same-sex couples.

California's domestic partnership legislation grants same-sex couples most of the benefits of married couples except a few, such as the right to bring a foreign partner into the United States and right to pass Social Security benefits on to a spouse. So far, more than 30,000 same-sex couples are registered in California as domestic partners. Same-sex marriage is expected to become California's biggest legislative battle of 2007.