Thursday 2 November 2006

S.F. Mayor Gavin Newsom Says Gay Marriage Is Inevitable



With This Ring magazine shares with AOL a recent interview with San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom -- you know, the guy who almost three years ago ordered his city clerks to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples in an act of civil disobedience.

Writer Jonathon Feit chats with Newsom about gay marriage, his role in the struggle, and why he sees civil unions as an inherently inferior status to full-on marriage. 

It is always shocking to be reminded, as Newsom does here, that interracial marriage was legalized in 1967, a mere 40 years ago -- and that the opposition to it was (is?) as vehement as the opposition gay marriage faces today:

"When you read back in the Loving decision, and you read a lot of the articles of the time -- and the polling, which is very suggestive -- there are two polls that show that about 70% of Americans opposed interracial marriage at that time.  Opposed it -- seven out of ten people, which is rather remarkable.  Even today [there's] double-digit opposition to interracial marriage in America. 

I think it's helpful to look at the opposition to same-sex marriage in the context of that arc of history, because we are so much further along on same-sex marriage than we were -- frankly, even in the 1960s -- on interracial marriage. So that's what gives me some solid expectation that this is simply an inevitability."   -- Gavin Newsom

Did you catch that? Inevitability.

Click to Read: Walking in MLK’s Footsteps

 


6 comments:

Anonymous said...

WHEN you marry interacial you change your race ,but when you marry same sex you some day will leave no one living om earth who will ever reproduce that way and also marrying a black is not perverted he is a man and he marrys a women .GOD'S way.

Anonymous said...

oh shut up, if your gonna pull that one with the it's gods way then we must eliminate all, sterile people, people who do not want to get married, people who become too old to have children, single parents (since reproduction is only done within marriage i guess there should be 2 parents present), and people who do not want children because i forgot that the earth needs alot more people even though there are homeless people adn not enough jobs in this country. yeah that makes alot of sense.

Anonymous said...

Gay marriage already happens.

Anonymous said...

Call a same-sex union something besides a "marriage".  Calling it a "marriage" implies it's the same relationship as a heterosexual relationship, and no matter how bad some people want it to be the same, it's not the same.  A same-sex union and a married couple should have equal civil rights that are inherent in a committed, legal union, but though they are equal, they are not the same.  Gay rights activists have fought hard to be recognized as a group of individuals with unique and specific viewpoints and needs, so find a title that fits that unique relationship.

Anonymous said...

its just this simple man or woman, man and man, woman and woman when you love someone and want to spend the rest of your life with them then so be it.

i am waiting for the day me and my partner can stand before the world and god and have a ceremony with family and friends, however, until that day we live as if we are already.

life is too short to wait for stupid people like bush, arnold and too many others.  we are not going anywhere so ya'll might as well put up and shut up because gay people, like any "minority" have alot of power and alot of money!

so bush kiss it.

p.s. are you sure there is not a cure for hiv/aids yet?  i wonder what would happen if a cure for aids, cancer and diabetes just to name a few were cured, where would all the drug companies get their money?  oh did i say that?

sue me.

Anonymous said...

No, Irish: no, no, no.  If gay people are included in "marriage," then it redefines marriage as the joining of two people who love each other in a recognized way.

That's right, I said REDEFINES marriage.  I use the words of mine enemies, and I use them proudly.  When you look at the big picture, marriage hasn't been the most joyful institution ever invented; it could stand a good re-definition now and then.