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Bush stance led mayor to back gay marriages
(Rachel Gordon, San Francisco, Chronicle, February 16, 2004)
It was only his 12th day as mayor of San Francisco, but Gavin Newsom decided that night -- the very night he attended President Bush's State of the Union address in Washington, D.C. -- that he was going to defy California law. . . . Attending the president's Jan. 20 speech as a guest of House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, Newsom listened closely as Bush voiced his strong support for outlawing same-sex marriage -- with a constitutional amendment, if necessary. . . . Not long after the speech, Newsom called his chief of staff, Steve Kawa, a gay man who was at home with his partner and their two children. ''He told me that he wanted to do something,'' Kawa said. . . . Two weeks later, during a staff meeting, Newsom dropped the bombshell on his top aides: He wanted them to explore how the city could start issuing marriage licenses to gay and lesbian couples. . . . It was the first time, Kendell said, that a mayor of an American city wanted to take such an initiative. And Newsom, a straight Irish Catholic man married for two years, was the perfect politician to take on the fight, she said. . . . They decided to proceed on the grounds that denying marriage licenses to gays and lesbians violates their rights to equal protection under the California Constitution. . . . Late Tuesday afternoon, the administration released a letter that the mayor had sent to the county clerk's office, which issues marriage licenses. It requested that San Francisco try to find a way to not discriminate against gay and lesbian couples who want to get married. . . . On Thursday morning, Lyon, dressed in a blue pants suit, and Martin, in a purple one, slipped into City Hall. [Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon celebrated their 51st anniversary on Valentine's Day.] . . . Those who orchestrated the scene succeeded in keeping it secret, a goal to keep opponents of marriage for gays and lesbians from trying to prevent the ceremony. . . . By Friday afternoon, as scores of weddings for gays and lesbians were being performed, opposition lawyers were trying to get an injunction to stop what they termed municipal anarchy. The judge told them to come back Tuesday, when the legal battle will begin in earnest.

[COMMENT: Here is another good sign that the Cheney-Bush junta is loosing its strangle-hold on American culture. When a straight Irish Catholic man is willing to make a stand like this, it is a sign that the tide is turning ... and not a moment too soon.]

posted by LoZo 1:38 PM