SF Mayor Becomes Unwitting Gay-Marriage Bugbear

In California’s gay marriage fight, San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom finds himself cast as the villain, reports the San Francisco Chronicle. Newsom, a ban opponent, had largely kept a low profile. But he gave Proposition 8 supporters fodder on Friday by officiating at the wedding of a lesbian teacher, attended by her class-skipping first-graders. “This is promoting same-sex marriage and indoctrinating young kids,” says the ban campaign manager.

Newsom says he didn’t know that first-graders would be skipping school, but political analysts agree that the mayor has become a liability. One, who opposes the ban, described the wedding as a “gimme for the right-wingers.” Another strategist suggests Newsom spend his time enlisting anti-Prop 8 spokespeople from conservative California enclaves, “people who can connect with voters in those places. The mayor of San Francisco, no matter who it is, isn't that person.”
(More Gavin Newsom stories.)