It’s no secret San Francisco Mayor and California governor hopeful Gavin Newsom doesn’t stand with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on gay marriage policies. Namely, Schwarzenegger doesn’t want it; Newsom demands it. But as Newsom’s star rises to a national stage — his ambitions likely don’t end at running California — and understanding grows that his gay marriage stance could be a liability in a state that passed Prop 8, he could, theoretically, pull a Barack Obama and begin limiting his support for gay rights. But he’s not, as his sit down with Rachel Maddow makes clear.
And not only is his position not changing, his vocal support of gay rights isn’t either. He’s still shouting it from the rooftops. (He’s also shouting support for Carrie Prejean.)
Newsom is one more rational voice in the national debate over equal rights, perhaps more remarkable because he’s a straight guy.
Here, we celebrate a politician who stands by his personal convictions. Funny how we do the exact opposite when it comes to guys like Rhode Island Gov. Donald Carcieri.
How about we take this to the next level?
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Chris H
Personal convictions? Newsom has personal convictions? When did this happen? I’ve watched Newsom in San Francisco for a long time. I was glad for what he did with the marriage thing, but don’t fool yourself that it came about as a result of a strong moral compass. Newsom is, first and foremost, an opportunist, and even that one decent thing was simple pandering to a particular part of the San Francisco political machine. Note how he’s trying to straddle the line on the issue of Miss California and play both sides. When it comes down to it, he’s not one to be trusted; he will always check the political winds, and when they change, queers will find that he doesn’t know who they are.
Flex
Thanks Gavin! We can use all of the support that we get!
Dabq
In the interview, he said that it wasn’t on the radar for most voters as most are concerned with issues like the economy which is true, but, it shows that he is not in touch with the voters, and, is hoping that it, his being allegedly pro-gay marriage won’t come up as he knows it will sink him further since he is already third or fourth in most polls. California isn’t as liberal or progressive as many want to think and with him on the ballot, it would assure the GOP a win.
Sorry, not impressed with him at all, he is looking out for one person, Gavin Newsom like most politicians.
CitizenGeek
@Chris H: Gavin Newsom was clearly not trying to play both sides or whatever. He’s is unashamedly in favour of full equality for gays and lesbians and he’s someone who has always been in favour of it and has always been a very strong voice for us. There are very few politicians like this, so I don’t think it’s fair to cut him down like that.
atdleft
@CitizenGeek: Yep. Perhaps Newsom isn’t perfect, but he’s never wavered on LGBT civil rights. And frankly, his policies and ideas are a breath of fresh air compared to the other candidates who’ve announced and said the same ol’ things over and over again (Jerry Brown).
rogue dandelion
gav for gov!
Raphael
Usually, we criticize politicians for being cynics. But this thread has me thinkin that charge is more appropriate for the commentors.
If you want to criticize Gavin, lets do it for something more substantive than “I don’t believe your sincerity.”
Chris H
@Dabq: Absolutely agree with you, Dabq. Honestly, it doesn’t take much personal integrity to stand up for gay rights in this town.
Also, he has class issues. He may be good for the wealthy white clones in the Castro, but the poor and genderqueer (i.e., the B and the T on all the stationery), don’t exist for him.
The Gay Numbers
I am begining to think there is nothing a politician (remember thats what they are) can do to say they are people we can sway to those who post here. It’s one thing to expect more, and a quite another to believe in nothing but putting down potential allies. There was nothing untoward in his statement. he talks like a politician , but he talks like we can influence.
Lee
“it doesn’t take much personal integrity to stand up for gay rights in this town”????
And it doesn’t take long for the loons to clock in.
Please note, Maddow’s show is not on San Francisco cable. It’s seen around the world, as is Larry King’s show and all of the other network shows on which Newsom has consistently defended marriage quality at great political cost to himself [did anyone see the most charismatic Dem this side of Barack on the platform at the Convention last year? NO]. “Rolling Stone” magazine is seen around the world, too. This from a 2006 interview:
“Rolling Stone: Listening to the Democratic opposition to the federal anti-gay marriage amendment, the party’s senators sounded more like Dixiecrats — talking about marriage as a states’s rights issue — rather than Democrats, pursuing this from a civil-rights perspective.
Gavin Newsom: Where’s the moral courage? It’s lost. I have the luxury of saying this from San Francisco, I certainly respect what it’s like saying this in parts of Kentucky or North Carolina, but also believe this issue won’t go away for the Democratic party we stand up on historic principles.
We’ve never run the 90-yard dash on equality — ever. The history of this party is civil rights, women’s rights, human rights, labor rights, gay and lesbian rights. And for us to hold up civil unions and say that separate is somehow now equal — when just a-year-and-a-half we ago celebrated the 50th anniversary of Brown v. Board – is transparent to the people. They see through the Democrats.
That’s why this issue was not seen by the Kerry campaign in 2004 in a positive light. Because people saw through John Kerry. They didn’t believe that he was only supportive of civil unions. Because here he was, running as a Democrat on all those proud traditions where we never fell short on equality. And so — even though his position was exactly the same as Dick Cheney’s — the American people questioned that. I don’t think the American people believe us. And that’s a big problem.
RS: What advice do you give to politicians in your party?
GN: I tell all of my fellow Democrats this is not going to go away. As long as we allow this to be dangled in front of us because of our unwillingness to say publicly what so many of us are saying privately, it will haunt the Democratic party. And it will be used as a wedge issue just as it is being dangled in front of congressional candidates in the November election.
Not every Democrat in Washington agrees with gay marriage. But I will make the case — based on some strong evidence — that an overwhelming majority do. But they just can’t say it. And that is a limitation that is causing more damage than the issue. Because, again, it shows a weakness of character.
This is really one of the great final civil rights struggles, and again I say to my colleagues in the Democratic party: Why are you a Democrat if you can’t stand on a fundamental construct that has always distinguished our party. That we didn’t sit around. We advanced the issues of equality. We engaged the American people head on.”
Jaroslaw
Thanks Gay Numbers. I can’t even think of words to describe Dabq & Chris H. Naive comes to mind, but name calling isn’t what I’m trying to do. First of all, politicians take a lot of crap for the job they do – they sacrifice a lot of privacy etc. They do not have normal family lives or a lot of free time. I was friends with one once, and I was exhausted listening to all the meetings he had to go to. Everyone thinks they own the politician because they gave $1 to the campaign.
However, this is their choice but it also YOUR choice of who to vote for. Mr. Newsom hasn’t waivered on Gay rights, and I thank him for it. He doesn’t have to be a saint to deserve our thanks or support. When you find the perfect person, politician, lover, Mayor, let us all know, will you guys?
Timothy
“It’s no secret San Francisco Mayor and California governor hopeful Gavin Newsom doesn’t stand with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on gay marriage policies. Namely, Schwarzenegger doesn’t want it; Newsom demands it.”
That is just astonishingly stupid. And flat wrong.
Schwarzenegger said from the start of his first campaign that he didn’t oppose marriage. When the legislature tried to provide marriage equality by legislation, Schwarzenegger vetoed it saying that while he supports marriage equality, he and the legislature didn’t have the power to overturn Prop 22.
Ya know what? He was right. In addition to legalizing marriage, the CA Supremes said that he was correct.
Schwarzenegger immediately endorsed the decision of the court. He opposed Proposition 8, supports the challenge, and has said that the Court should reverse Prop 8. When protesters marched after Prop 8 passed, he urged them keep fighting and never give up until they “get it done.”
If that’s what you mean by “Schwarzenegger doesn’t want it” then I just don’t know what planet you’re living on. You don’t have to like the guy, just don’t lie about him.
Lee
“Schwarzenegger said from the start of his first campaign that he didn’t oppose marriage.”???? “flat wrong”????
Yeh, Tiny Tim, your own memory is a bit selective.
“In a rapid-fire series of questions by radio talk show host Sean Hannity on the nationally syndicated Sean Hannity Show, [candidate for governor] Schwarzenegger, on the phone from California, said he does not support gay marriage, but does approve of some kind of domestic partnership.
‘I think that gay marriage [sic] is something that should be between a man and a woman’, he said, a misstatement in a rush to keep up with the staccato-like delivery of the questions.”
– CNN.com – Thursday, August 28, 2003
http://www.cnn.com/2003/ALLPOLITICS/08/27/schwarzenegger.views/index.html
“A day after the state Supreme Court ruled that same-sex couples should have the right to marry in California, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said Friday that he supports the court’s decision even though his personal view is that ‘marriage is between a man and a woman’.”
– San Francisco Chronicle – May 17, 2008
THAT’s the planet we’re living on—one in which Arnie tries to speak out of both sides of his mouth at the same time. Maybe that’s why he still has that ludicrous accent after living here for decades.
Regardless of what the court said, he vetoed the [elected by the people] legislature’s bills twice for the same reason he hired a hit man for the homohating “Traditional Values Coaliton” for his reelection campaign…only to fire him when the press shined a light on the pseudo Xtian cockroach; for the same reason he vetoed a bill that would have added gays to the state law that mandates discussion of minorities in school textbooks; for the same reason he said on “The Tonight Show” after Newsom’s 2004 courageous marriage act, “We cannot have, all of a sudden now, mayors go and hand out licences. In San Francisco it’s the licence for marriage of the same sex. Maybe the next thing is another city that hands out licences for assault weapons. And someone else hands out licences for selling drugs.”; for the same reason he said on “Meet the Press,” then, “All of a sudden we see riots and we see protests and we see people clashing. The next thing we know is there are injured or there are dead people, and we don’t want to have that.”; for the same reason he ordered the state attorney general to stop those San Francisco marriages…….the guy is mentally two tacos short of a combination plate, a petty political opportunist who has flown from one corner to the next on the subject by his faulty sense of which way the political winds are blowing…..while Newsom has remained consistent.
THANK ST. JUDY Conan the Barbarian can’t run for President.
Alexa
Considering California just voted down same sex marriage, being outspokenly pro-gay is somewhat risky. It might be easy is SF, but not in the state as a whole.
Brett
This man gives me a political hard-on.
He has my vote.
And I don’t even vote.
Dabq
@Chris H: That’s what I was thinking, he was going on about the ‘poor’ and, just what has he done for the poor in the Bayview part of SF? What about the Mission district? Get behind redevelopment that continues to make it a place that being middle class or poor is not an option, until he is running for a statewide office.
I’m just not impressed, and, I’m sure there are many others in the state who feel the same way and, he has to win many places other than the Bay Area.
Bruno
Newsom may or may not be a good mayor, and surely has made some political moves. But I started out thinking the SSM thing was a political move (and frankly, that didn’t and still doesn’t bother me if true), but over the years have come to realize he’s been absolutely 100% unwavering on the issue. That’s all I could ask on this one issue, even if in other areas he fails.
However, I do sense he’s trying to downplay the issue as he runs for governor. And I don’t really mind that either…there are other things that affect all of us who live in the state of California, gay or straight. As long as he’s still willing to talk about it, I’m all ears.
Timothy
@Lee,
I see we each have our selective quotes. But I’m going by the totality of the experience (as a Californian who has followed the Governor’s political career and his – admitedly often confusing – statements).
It’s convenient and easy to just say “Schwarzenegger doesn’t want it” but you know, I know, and most Californians know that this is simply untrue.
Which won’t, of course, stop you from claiming that it is.
Timothy
As for Newsom, he’s got two strikes against him.
First, Newsom has “San Francisco values”, as homophobes like to say. This really is probably more of a big deal than non-Californians think and not because of gay issues.
Californians are both proud of and scornful towards SF. Those in rural areas see the city as a collection of loons ready to endorse the most extremely wacky idea. Those in SoCal see it as a small city that isn’t worthy of the attention it seeks. To be a politician from SF is to be immediately suspect.
DiFi overcame this stereotype, but then again she is rather conservative for a Democrat.
And the second strike is the whole “whether you like it or not” speech that made him look like a jackass. It flooded the state during Prop 8 and made Newsom look arrogant and condescending.
On the plus side, he’s an attractive guy who is young. And he can point to some successes in city government and say he’ll do as well for the State.
It will be interesting to see if he can win the primary. His biggest challenger will probably be Jerry Brown who is trying for a comeback.
Brown, known as Governor Moonbeam in the 70’s, now is seen as an elder statesman. And while his ideas at that time seemed out to lunch, they are mainstream today.
I don’t think Villaraigosa has a chance. He almost lost his LA re-election and the voter turnout was miniscule.
On the Republican side the choices seem to be Meg Whitman, Tom Campbell or Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner. Of the three only Whitman supported Prop 8 (but claims to support civil unions). Poizner refused to endore the propostion and Campbell wrote an editorial in opposition to it.
Lee
Timmy, Timmy, Timmy. His statements haven’t been “confusing”…they’ve been self-contradictory…and nowhere can you document that he has changed his mind about “marriage being between a man and a woman” — a Troglodytic belief that still gives aid and comfort to our enemies even if he then says out of the other side of his mouth…”do what you want.”
As for “you know, I know, and most Californians know that this is simply untrue” — you and I don’t know WHAT Californians “know” about his opinions. REPEAT: they have been so all over the map — sometimes in the same month — that you can’t predict with any certainty any better than I, but there’s reason to believe that any memory the great unwashed have is more in the antigay equality column than gay-positive or neutral BECAUSE:
Bottomline: Actions speak louder than words and he has taken more action against gay progress than for it, most recently refusing to make Harvey Milk’s birthday a state holiday even tho it would not require giving anyone time off with pay.
Surprised you haven’t ejaculated the usual Gay Repug line that he’s signed more gay positive bills than any other governor…the lie in that being that he’s been given more gay positive bills to sign than any previous governor.
He’s not as bad as Bush by a long shot but he IS a pig for having similarly exploited homophobia to attempt to strengthen his base [there was nothing “confusing” about his hiring the fascist sidekick of Lou Sheldon] and I’m thrilled to see him terminated out.
Alec
Show me someone else that has been as principled and steadfast in his or her support of equality for gay men and lesbians who is running for CA governor, and then I’ll consider and weigh my options. Whether you like it or not, you’ll never find someone as principled on this issue as Newsom.
milkcluber
Newsom does NOT support full equality for lgbt. Last November he campaigned twice — first to put the measure before voters and then to pass it — to allow JROTC back into SF high schools where they can continue to discriminate based on sexual orientation in the military. He has taken NO — none, no — steps to address the antigay policies of the military.
Even worse, the multimillionaire Newsom told the Milk Club that he “couldn’t afford” health insurance for his employees or their partners at his restaurants when he was running for office.
And he introduced a measure to deny the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence the street permit for their annual charity drive because he said it was an insult to Catholics.
Those are just some of the reasons those of us in SF are cynical about Newsom’s so-called support.
Just take a look at the video his brother-in-law did on Newsom’s gay marriage move, which we all support. The cover is a picture of Newsom — not a married couple. So what’s this really all about?
Sorry folks, walk a few years in our shoes in this city and you won’t be so easily taken in by the glib Newsom.
Dabq
@milkcluber: Thanks, but, your truth will fall on deaf eyes and ears, these posters are more in love with his alleged good looks than anything that he has done for SF.
pablo torres
He’s got a great moral compass belly-bopping with his trusted mates spouse… ya, you go Gavin. He means nothing he says.