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 San
Diego Mayor Reverses Stand, Now Supports Gay Marriage
by The Associated Press
Posted: September 20, 2007 - 12:01
am ET
(San Diego, California) The mayor of the nation's
eighth-largest city abruptly reversed his public opposition to same-sex marriage
late Wednesday after revealing that his adult daughter is a lesbian.
Mayor Jerry
Sanders signed a City Council resolution supporting a legal
fight to overturn California's prohibition on same-sex
marriage. He had previously said he would veto the resolution.
(story)
Sanders, a
former police chief and a Republican, told reporters that he
could no longer support the position he took during his
mayoral campaign two years ago, when he said he favored civil
unions but not full marriage rights for same-sex couples.
"Two
years ago, I believed that civil unions were a fair
alternative," he said at a news conference. "Those
beliefs, in my case, have since changed. The concept of a
'separate but equal' institution is not something that I can
support."
He fought
back tears as he said that he wanted his adult daughter, Lisa,
and other gay people he knows to have their relationships
protected equally under state laws. His daughter was not at
the news conference.
"In the
end, I could not look any of them in the face and tell them
that their relationships - their very lives - were any less
meaningful than the marriage that I share with my wife, Rana,"
Sanders said.
The mayor,
who is up for re-election next year, acknowledged that many
voters who supported his earlier stance may disagree, but he
said he had to do what he believed was right.
Lisa Sanders
was unavailable for comment, said the mayor's spokesman, Fred
Sainz. She told her parents four years ago that she is a
lesbian and is in a committed relationship, but her
orientation wasn't public until her father's speech, Sainz
said.
The City
Council on Tuesday voted 5-3 to join other California cities
in supporting a challenge to a ban on same-sex marriage that
is pending before the state Supreme Court. The court is
expected to rule next year on whether to uphold a lower court
decision that found the ban constitutional.
The lawsuits
grew out of the high court's decision to invalidate marriage
licenses issued to same-sex couples who flocked to San
Francisco in 2004, after Mayor Gavin Newsom instructed city
officials to allow the couples to wed.
Los Angeles,
Long Beach, San Jose and Santa Cruz are among cities that have
already filed briefs in favor of same-sex marriage.
On Monday,
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said he would veto a bill, approved
by legislators last week, redefining marriage as a civil
contract between two people. (story)
He said he
would not reconsider his position and vowed to keep vetoing
similar measures unless voters overturned a measure against
gay marriage that 61 percent of them endorsed in 2000.
Schwarzenegger
has until Oct. 14 to act on the measure.
©365Gay.com 2007
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