S.F. MAYOR DEFENDS HIS DECISION ON GAY VOWS: From the San Jose Mercury News

San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom told liberal activists Wednesday that his decision to allow same-sex marriages in February has not created the political backlash feared by some prominent Democrats.

Newsom spoke to more than 1,500 members of the American Civil Liberties Union as they gathered for their annual convention in San Francisco. He said that his decision took the spotlight off presumptive Democratic nominee John Kerry and has advanced the debate from domestic partnerships to the full rights of marriage.

"Now we get beyond domestic partnerships. Now civil unions almost seem passe. And now we're having a real debate about discrimination," Newsom said. "I think in a curious way, it's helped the Kerry campaign."

But Newsom acknowledged resistance to same-sex marriage remains, even among his mayoral peers.

Last week, the U.S. Conference of Mayors voted 46 to 44 to not take up a resolution he co-sponsored that would have put the mayors on record in opposition of the proposed federal constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage. ...

On Wednesday, ACLU leaders urged members to call or e-mail their senators to register their opposition to [a federal marriage] amendment. The ACLU also has filed suits in seven states, including California, seeking to allow same-sex marriages.

The real battle this year will be in the more than half-dozen states that have November ballot measures seeking to add or strengthen bans on same-sex marriages.

"We can be very clever about the cases we put together, very smart about the cases that we do and we can have the best lobbying operation in Congress," said Matt Coles of the ACLU Lesbian & Gay Rights Project. "None of that will work unless we can make victories in court and victories in Congress sustained" by defeating state bans.

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