S.F. mayor allows gay marriage licenses

By Matthew Meyerhofer

San Francisco mayor and Santa Clara alumnus Gavin Newsom ordered County Clerk Nancy Alfaro to begin issuing marriage licenses to gay and lesbian couples who requested them last Thursday.

More than 2,000 such licenses have already been issued.

Senior Noel Fonseca, a member of Santa Clara's Gay and Lesbian Alliance said he supports Newsom's actions.

"I think this decision is important and creates more awareness about equality for everybody. He did it on his own because he feels no one should be discriminated against," Fonseca said. "That coming from a graduate of Santa Clara University really impressed me."

Conservatives are already preparing challenges in court to overturn Newsom's decision and declare all licenses already issued invalid. They contend that Newsom's action violates state law, saying state law rather than local law governs marriages.

For his part, Newsom argued that the California State Constitution's equal protection clause makes denying marriage licenses to gay and lesbian couples illegal.

In 2000, California voters passed Proposition 22, an initiative that changed California law to make only marriages between a man and a woman valid. Plaintiffs in the court challenges are arguing that if Newsom is allowed to violate state law, other cities and counties will be encouraged to act similarly.

Newsom's opponents sought an immediate court order to block his order, but San Francisco Superior Court Judge James L. Warner refused to grant such an order on Monday. Instead, it appears that this issue will play itself out in court before such a ruling is made.

Despite the success or failure of the court challenges, proponents of gay marriage may face another obstacle in Sacramento. The marriage forms will eventually be sent to the state capitol for registration, but state officials have indicated that they would simply return the forms, which have been modified from their original state.

President Bush has said he is troubled by the developments in San Francisco, as well as by legal decisions in Massachusetts, which have opened the way to gay marriages. However, he has declined to say how close he is to supporting a constitutional ban of such marriages.

Another national political figure, Representative Barney Frank (D-Mass.), who is an openly gay congressman, criticized Newsom's actions. He said that the developments in San Francisco could hurt the cause for gay and lesbian marriages by associating it with an image of lawlessness and civil disobedience.

Gay and lesbian couples from more than 20 states have traveled to San Francisco in search of a marriage license. Even some couples from European countries have come to City Hall for the licenses.

û Contact Matthew Meyerhofer at mmeyerhofer@scu.edu.