In an exclusive one-on-one talk, Jennifer C. Pizer, Senior Counsel for Lambda Legal - a GLBT civil rights legal group - and co-counsel for the recent California Supreme Court gay marriage decision, said she believed most people who voted for constitutional gay marriage bans were not aware of the harm they were committing and that the bans serve no “positive purpose whatsoever.”

Pizer discussed her views on gay marriage with OUTTAKEonline.com CEO Charlotte Robinson. The Emmy-award winning producer/director has been documenting the fight for marriage equality for the past five years as it has unfolded in Massachusetts – the first state to recognize gay marriage in the U.S.

California's Supreme Court recently ruled gay couples have the constitutional right to marry in the state. Officials have said couples might begin marrying on June 16th.

However, a voter-led referendum which would prohibit gay marriage by making it unconstitutional in the state is set to appear on the November ballot. Florida residents will also be asked to vote on a similar ban. Since 2004, when gay wedding bells began ringing in Massachusetts, 26 states have outlawed gay marriage. Arizona is the only state where voters have defeated the measure. Presumptive Republican Presidential nominee Arizona Sen. John McCain campaigned in favor of the ban.

In her interview with Robinson, Pizer said that some of the state's bans are “horribly broad” excluding not only marriage, but civil unions or even registered domestic partnerships for gay couples. “...it seems unlikely that the majority of the people who cast those votes to change those laws - in that way - weren't realizing the harmful consequences of what they were doing.”

She went on to elaborate on the bans themselves, saying they accomplished nothing positive while creating real hardships on gay and lesbian families. “...these statewide rules... deny them [gay couples] really basic legal protections without helping anyone, without accomplishing any positive purpose whatsoever.”

Robinson expects release of her documentary to coincide with the fifth anniversary of gay marriage in Massachusetts – and the first anniversary for California – in 2009. You can view a short of the documentary at www.OUTTAKEonline.com.