San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom talks about the events leading up to the decision to perform gay marriages and how history will judge it.
On Feb. 12, 2004, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom announced that his city would begin performing same-sex marriages. The move came in defiance of Proposition 22, passed by voters in 2000, which defined marriage as a “personal relation arising out of a civil contract between a man and a woman.” Newsom maintained that the state Constitution’s equal protection clause preempted that law. On Aug. 13, 2004, the California Supreme Court ruled that Newsom had overstepped his authority and nullified about 4,000 marriages performed in San Francisco during the period.
Thank you for your uncompromising vision and incredible courage Mayor Newsom!