Mother Jones
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In 2004, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom unleashed a national political and legal tempest when he issued about 4,000 marriage licenses to same-sex couples. At a time when gay marriage was expressly prohibited by California law, even many of Newsom’s allies wondered aloud whether the rising Democratic star had effectively sabotaged his political career. Others grumbled that by forcing the hot-button issue into the presidential campaign, he’d handed a sharp weapon to the Republicans. During two political fundraisers in San Francisco that year, Barack Obama infamously refused to be photographed with Newsom.
But history was on Newsom’s side. In 2008, the California Supreme Court struck down the state’s same-sex marriage ban. Proposition 8, a subsequent, voter-backed constitutional amendment outlawing gay marriage, was later invalidated by a federal appeals court in a decision the US Supreme Court allowed to stand. Friday’s Supreme Court ruling has enshrined same-sex marriage as the law of the land, offering Newsom, now California’s Lieutenant Governor, sweet vindication 11 years after he took his rogue stance. I spoke with Newsom on Friday afternoon.
Link to original:
Sweet Vindication for Gavin Newsom, Who Staked His Career on Same-Sex Marriage
