It turns out that Frisco mayor Gavin Newsom was way out of line in taking it on himself to declare Sec. 300 of the Family Code unconstitutional and issue non-standard marriage licenses to gay couples. The DHS is not accepting them, so these “marriages” will not be registered and none of the couples will get marriage certificates. Newsom’s boner flies in the face of the California Constitution:
CALIFORNIA CONSTITUTION
ARTICLE 3 STATE OF CALIFORNIA
SEC. 3.5. An administrative agency, including an administrative agency created by the Constitution or an initiative statute, has no power:
(a) To declare a statute unenforceable, or refuse to enforce a statute, on the basis of it being unconstitutional unless an appellate court has made a determination that such statute is unconstitutional;
(b) To declare a statute unconstitutional;
(c) To declare a statute unenforceable, or to refuse to enforce a statute on the basis that federal law or federal regulations prohibit the enforcement of such statute unless an appellate court has made a determination that the enforcement of such statute is prohibited by federal law or federal regulations.
So the proper course of action for a politico who doesn’t like a state law is to take it to court, not to simply ignore it. Newsom collected substantial fees from the gay couples, which he will now have to refund.
Newsom probably made this decision following advice from his benefactor, Willie Brown. Willie’s first act as an assemblymember was to pass a bill repealing California’s anti-sodomy law, and this won him lifetime support from the very active gay activists, including generous financial support. Having secured this base, he was able to reach out to government-regulated businesses for more, and his life in politics was secure. Newsom is the kind of guy who’s considered a moderate in Frisco, even though he’d be a flaming liberal anywhere else. Now that he’s secured his place in the Gay Rights Hall of Fame, he’s free to seek a larger constituency as well.
So politics is about politics, this time and always.