Ad Featuring Gavin Newsom Blamed For Flipping Prop 8 Support

UPDATE: Equality California's Geoffrey Kors says that "this is crunch time" and implores LGBT Americans to come to their aid.

"People change their minds about Proposition 8 when they hear the lie that churches will lose their tax-free status if they won't marry same-sex couples," said Kors. "Even though this is not true.

"So this is crunch time. With less than a month before the election, we must get on the air now to answer these lies and swing votes back to our side. And the only way to do that is to raise more money. The generous $15.8 million that our supporters have given isn't enough."

DONATE TO NO ON 8 HERE.

Rex Wockner reports:

A TV ad showing San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom saying California is going to have same-sex marriage "whether you like it or not" is being credited with flipping poll numbers to favor the Nov. 4 ballot proposition to amend the state constitution to undo the state Supreme Court's legalization of same-sex marriage.

This door's wide open now. It's gonna happen. Whether you like it or not!" Newsom says in a clip included in the ad paid for by forces supporting passage of Proposition 8. The ad continues: "Four judges ignored 4 million voters and imposed same-sex marriage on California. It's no longer about tolerance. Acceptance of gay marriage is now mandatory. That changes a lot of things: People sued over personal beliefs. Churches could lose their tax exemption. Gay marriage taught in public schools. We don't have to accept this. ('Whether you like it or not!') Yes on 8."

Here's the ad again.

Tomorrow: Newsom, Paterson Co-Host Prop 8 Fundraiser In Manhattan

Tomorrow in Manhattan: SF Mayor Gavin Newsom and NY Gov. David Paterson will co-host a $5000 a plate fundraiser to fight California's Proposition 8.

Gov. David A. Paterson, who has made legalizing same-sex marriage in New York a priority of his administration, is lending his support to gay and lesbian advocates in California who are fighting a proposal to define marriage there as between a man and a woman.

Mr. Paterson, along with Gavin Newsom, the mayor of San Francisco, will headline a fund-raiser on Thursday at the East Side home of Michael Recanati and Ira Statfeld, two philanthropists.

Tickets to get into the event will start at $5,000. The money raised will be used for efforts to defeat Proposal 8, the ballot initiative that would amend the California constitution to recognize only marriages between heterosexual couples. Proposal 8 was put on the ballot in response to a decision in May by the California Supreme Court, which ordered the state to begin processing marriage licenses for same-sex couples.

Efforts on both sides of the battle over Proposition 8 have been pitched. Religious groups led by Mormons and Catholics have poured millions of dollars into the campaign to promote the initiative.

On the other side of the issue are prominent California politicians like Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic speaker of the House of Representatives, and Arnold Schwarzenegger, the Republican governor. And recently some big Hollywood names have donated money, including Brad Pitt and Steven Spielberg, who each gave $100,000. Polling has shown that Californians are split on the issue.

Advocates of same-sex marriage in New York have found a loyal supporter in Mr. Paterson, who directed all state agencies earlier this year to recognize marriages between homosexual couples that were performed outside the state.

Currently New York does not permit gay marriage. But the a state appeals court ruled earlier this year that the state was bound to honor marriages of same-sex couples that were entered into in jurisdictions that permit them like Massachusetts or Spain.

The State Assembly, but not the State Senate, has passed a bill legalizing gay marriage. If Democrats, who currently control the Assembly but not the Senate, win enough seats in November to take control of the Senate, it is likely a gay marriage bill would pass.

Paterson is a dogsend, ain't he? Who would have thought that we may end up partly owing marriage equality rights in New York to Ashley Dupre?

SF Mayor Gavin Newsom Enters CA Governor Race

Riding high in popularity with the recent gay marriage triumph, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom has filed the paperwork to begin his run for governor of California in 2010.

Newsom, a Democrat best known for challenging California's ban on same-sex marriage in 2004, is six months into his second and final term, which expires in 2011. Speculation over whether he would run to succeed Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has pursued him since before his re-election, but the mayor always deflected it by saying his attention remained fixed on the city.

The establishment of an exploratory committee will allow Newsom to start raising money and conducting polls. In announcing the committee Tuesday, Newsom's campaign consultant, Eric Jaye, said it demonstrated the mayor's custom of "listening to people before acting" and that would allow him to launch a campaign "from a position of knowledge and strength."

[snip]

Newsom made headlines early in his first term when he directed city workers to grant marriage licenses to gay couples, three months before Massachusetts became the first U.S. state to legalize same-sex marriage.

Some Democrats, including California's senior U.S. senator, Dianne Feinstein, blamed him for helping fuel a conservative backlash that propelled President Bush to re-election that same year, while some political observers speculated that he may have irrevocably doomed his chance to secure a statewide office.

At the moment, the only other Democratic candidate that seems likely to challenge Newsom is former Gov. Jerry Brown, who is currently state Attorney General. Brown is 30 years older than Newsom.

A Historic First, For The Second Time

This time, it will be legal.

When same-sex marriages start at 5 p.m. June 16, San Francisco will stage a repeat of the ceremony that started the 2004 Winter of Love, when thousands of gay and lesbian couples married at City Hall.

This time, though, Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon's wedding will be legal.

Mayor Gavin Newsom said Monday that the ceremony, which he will officiate, will be the only one held in City Hall that day. Martin and Lyon have been together more than five decades, and they were the first couple to marry four years ago. Marriages will begin en masse the next morning. So far, 128 same-sex couples have made appointments to obtain marriage license on Tuesday, June 17.

"What we want, the narrative coming out of it, is about them and what they represent - their story, their history. This is really where it all started," Newsom said of the couple. After the private ceremony, a reception will be held at City Hall for the couple's friends and family, and members of the media.

The couple's first wedding ceremony was very much a below-the-radar affair. City officials rushed to marry them - and eventually, thousands of other same-sex couples - before the courts could order the city to stop.

The photograph of Lyon and Martin's wedding, at which Newsom officiated at City Hall, has been credited by some as being an iconic image that has influenced how people across the country perceive same-sex marriage. The two also were plaintiffs in the recent case in which the state Supreme Court ruled same-sex marriage legal.

Lyon and Martin have been together for 58 years and are among the co-founders of the Daughters of Bilitis, the first lesbian rights organization in the United States. Del Martin was their first president.

Gavin Newsom For CA Gov?

SF Mayor Gavin Newsom is plotting a run for the governorship of California.

San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom who gained international notoriety when he issued marriage licenses for same-sex couples in 2004 is reportedly considering a run for governor in 2010. The San Francisco Chronicle reports that Newsom has been meeting quietly over the past few months with Democratic strategists.

"A number of people in the last few months have reached out and talked to me about it," he told the paper when asked directly if he would run. "It's premature to talk about it in the open," Newsom told the Chronicle. "In the next few months we'll see what happens."

Nevertheless, the paper says the mayor is already acting as though he has made up his mind with speaking engagements outside the city on wide-ranging topics such as the environment. He also has penned a number of op-ed pieces for the left-leaning Daily Kos blog. In addition he has recently been aligning himself with big labor groups and other traditional Democratic supporters.

If he does seek the 2010 Democratic nomination Newsome is likely to be opposed by Calif. Attorney General and former Gov. Jerry Brown, former state Controller Steve Westly and Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.

Some continue to blame Newsom for handing the right a victory in 2004 by raising the gay marriage issue to a level of visibility previously unseen.

The City And County Of San Fran-Nanny

San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom wants to place a municipal tax on soda because it causes obesity and strains the public health system.

Newsom is asking his staff to draft a law that would tax large grocery stores for stocking Coke, Pepsi and other drinks sweetened with high fructose corn syrup. A spokesman for the mayor says the details are still be worked out including the size of the fee. City officials say there's a direct link between sweet drinks and obesity, which puts a strain on the public health system. Any soda pop tax still must be approved by the Board of Supervisors.

What, no tax on Cheetos?
.

Susan Leal Struck By Car

Susan Leal, the head of the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission and the highest ranked lesbian in that city's government, was struck by a car and thrown 30 feet yesterday. Miraculously, Leal remained conscious and appears to have no broken bones or internal injuries.

Leal has been making headlines lately as rumors abound that Mayor Gavin Newsom has asked her to resign. Both Leal and Newsom (who appointed Leal in 2004) have been dodging questions about her possible resignation. Newsom was elected to a second term as mayor last month and critics are complaining about the dwindling number of gays in his administration.

Immediately upon the news of Leal's injury, the comments board at SFGate lit up with (mostly) jokey accusations that Newsom had a hand in the incident:

- "Wow, didn't know that Newsom would play this rough. Hope she is up and walking soon."
- "Just what did Gavin know and when did he know it?"
- "Newsom tried taking a page out of Ted Kennedy's book. But he got it wrong, he should of been behind the wheel."

No More "Porn Days" For SF

SF Mayor Gavin Newsom can't stay out of the news these days. Marital infidelity, a gay stalker, and now the right-wing is coming after him for designating last Friday "Colt Studios Day", in honor of the 40th anniversary of the legendary SF-based porn studio. Rev. Louis Sheldon of the Traditional Values Coalition says, "San Francisco has proven yet again why they remain the mocked city of the country." Newsom's office is claiming that proclamations such as "Colt Studios Day" are routinely granted without the mayor's personal involvement and that such declarations will be more closely evaluated going forward. Damn, personally I was looking forward to "Titan Media Day".

HomoQuotable - Bevan Dufty

"He is like a cross between Liberace and Hello Kitty. He is out of his gourd." - SF Supervisor Bevan Dufty, decscribing new age author Han Shin, who has been served with a restraining order for stalking San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom. Shin has been found inside of the mayor's residence when the mayor was not home, and was observed photographing the mayor from the waist down at a recent public appearance. Shin's latest book is Beauty for the World: A Spiritual Odyssey, which is described as "about Rosario, an ugly duckling, who overcomes molestation by her stepfather and other obstacles, to become Miss Universe and help children around the world."

Newsom Fucks Up (And Around)

San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newson, the darling of some gay marriage activists, has been exposed for having an affair with the wife of his election campaign manager. Newsom is up for re-election this year and faces a grassroots campaign urging openly lesbian state Sen. Carole Migden to run against him.

Not all gay marriage proponents are Newsom fans. Some activists working on the issue have been critical of Newsom's February 2004 unilateral declaration that gay marriages would be legal in San Francisco, calling the move "political grandstanding" and ultimately detrimental to the cause. The marriages that took place in San Francisco were later ruled invalid.

Gay marriage activists that had been doing the tedious legislative groundwork towards legalization suddenly found the rug pulled out from under them, as Newsom's spotlight-grabbing tactic eroded the then slowly improving climate for approval. Others (myself included) suspected at the time that Newsom could even be covertly working for the Republicans. Obviously, this new scandal will increase the call for Sen. Migden to oppose Newsom this fall.

UPDATE: The SF Chronicle thinks this scandal may hurt Nancy Pelosi.