Gavin Newsom belongs in the Civil Rights hall of fame, but way in the back

[Cant trust em]

When I think of the great Civil Rights leaders the names Rosa Parks, Ghandi, and of course, Martin Luther King, Jr. come to mind. These are people who were faced beatings, jail, dog attacks and death. These are people who laid their entire lives on the line to achieve what they believed in. Political courage can only be measured by how much suffering has been endured.

What suffering has Gavin Newsom absorbed for making gay marriage legal in San Francisco. Was he jailed? No. Was he ever beaten by police? No. He may have been threatened with violence, but that has never been witnessed. He barely even had to use any political capital to achieve his goals. He didn't risk being ousted from office for taking this stand.

History will look on Gavin Newsom favorably, and that is fine. His contribution to the struggle for gay equality should not be forgotten. I just hope that his accomplishments are put in their proper perspective and held in a separate category from the people who fought and died for their cause.

[dsc]

1. Though this isn't the only reason

thanks to his complicated personal life, but he will never be governor or Senator from California thanks to his decision to support marriages in San Fransisco.

[xchrom]

2. tell that to the thousands of lgbtq folk who got married at city hall.

[soleft]

3. Was he being overly praised somewhere recently?

What brought this on?

[Cant trust em]

7. Check this out

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x4414968

[El Pinko]

12. Wow. What a simplistic post.

He's a notable person and a pretty good mayor, but what he did is short of heroism.

It was symbolism more than anything else...

[msongs]

4. wow, and all this while he was cheating on his wife. not a hetero role model at all nt

[NMMNG]

5. Wow, I didn't know there was some official scale

Thanks for making us aware of this very important fact. When I go to the Civil Rights Hall of Fame I'll be sure to go look for Gavin in the dark corner you've assigned him to.

[JackBeck]

6. Clearly, you have issues with civil rights evolving in this country,

You'd rather we go back to 40 years ago outside of Stonewall with a bunch of fags getting the blood punched out of their noses as a sign of progress?

Or would you rather point to Matthew Shepard from 10 years ago as someone that didn't get slaughtered in suffering for our rights?

You have no conceivable concept for what it is like to fight for equality with that pathetic post.

So sad that you think that violence is the only sacrifice we suffer for equality.

[Cant trust em]

9. I can't put Newsom in the same category as MLK

Martin Luther King, Jr. pushed racial equality in a place where it was unpopular and was willing to lay his life on the line to achieve his dream. He paid the ultimate sacrifice for what he believed in.

Gavin Newsom made something legal where it was already popular. He didn't have to face the same consequences for his actions that MLK did. I am proud that Mayor Newsom made gay marriage legal. That was a great and happy day for all of us who believe in gay rights and marriage equality, but to put that in the same category of what other civil rights leaders have done is not fair. I am proud that we had gay marriage legal in San Francisco, but I cannot lionize Newsom the way I do MLK.

I understand that you suffer every day in a society that does not treat you with welcome.

[NMMNG]

10. Shall I go kick him a few times?

Will that make his "sacrifice" sufficient in your eyes? :sarcasm:


He's already been blamed for making Kerry lose the election in 2004 (among other things). Do you really think he should have an assassination attempt made on him before you can deem him worthy?

[Cant trust em]

14. I don't blame him for Kerry's defeat

let me also say that I am proud of what Newsom did. That was a great day for gay rights. I just can't put him in the same light as MLK, who I practically worship. It's not fair to compare the two.

[mulsh]

16. except for the fact that gay marriages aren't legal in CA.

As a straight guy who has supported gay marriage whole heartedly and proudly marched in the first 10 Pride Parades in SF (just to give you some of my personal history) I'd say Gavin's antics actually set the marriage movement back. I don't think he's anywhere in the same league as Martin Luther King or any other civil rights leader.

I felt very sad when all those couple were told their marriages were not legally valid' due to Prop 22. I hope some one starts an initiative drive to rescind the one which bans gay marriages in California. That's the basis for determining the SF marriages were not legally valid and Newsom did nothing to change that.


edit to add link:

here's some info on "same sex marriages" in general and what happened in California specifically.

http://igs.berkeley.edu/library/htGayMarriage.html

[Bluebear]

8. Thanks, evidently there will be some little corner - -in the back - -for homos.

[El Pinko]

11. Newsom was seen as a tool of PacHeights rich elites, so in order to curry favor...

...with San Francisco's powerful gay voting bloc, he came up with the PR stunt of allowing gay marriages, despite knowing that in the end they could not be upheld at the state level.

He came out looking like a hero to gays in the city and around the country, and make himself look more progressive in the bargain. Allowing gay marriages entails ZERO political risk within the SF politicial sphere.

In SF,pro-business dems like Newsom are the republicans, and progressives like his opponent Matt Gonzalez are the democrats.



I don't have a problem with the action he took, but I'll never believe that his motivation was much more than self-promotion.

He achieved no concrete legal progress for LGBT people, and his high-profile stunt in a national election year may have actually hurt Kerry's vote totals to a degree.

But it may have also helped to foster more awareness of same-sex marriage as a topic that deserves serious consideration, hopefully it was a step in bringing down the wall in the public's mind against equal marriage rights.

And clearly, the marriages that took place were deeply meaningful to the couples involved.

Newsom got a lot of attention for what he did. Deserved or not, he will have a place in the hall of fame. But it's sad the people like Quentin Crisp and the people at Stonewall, who actually took personal risks will be remembered less.


He's also made moves towards implementing a citywide universal health care coverage system. I hope it can be wokable, but with the city budget already facing dire shortfalls, it's going to be very tough to implement without angering one bloc of constituents or another.

He's not a bad mayor overall, but I sure as heck don't envy him his job...

[Cant trust em]

13. Thank you for knowing something about SF politics

before opening your mouth (or keyboard).

I'll even assume that his motivations are nothing but pure for this. As far as I'm concerned, he did the right thing. I just can't put him in the same category as MLK. Gavin Newsom should be recognized as a pioneer who did the right thing, but I can't objectively look at him with the same idolization as I do MLK.

[El Pinko]

18. I did my time in the city - only left in 2006.

If I could afford to still live there, I would.

:cry:

I voted for Gonzalez in 2003, but I think Newsom has been all right. I don't know how doable some of his ideas really are (citywide Wi-Fi?), but overall, he has been more progressive than I had expected.

When I left, the homeless problem was getting REALLY bad - there were several times when I'd open the garage door in the AM and there'd be somebody sleeping there, and one time my kids freaked out to see one taking a DUMP in broad daylight on the greenway between our street (Funston) and Park Presidio. When we left, he had started Care not Cash and was promising to get people off the streets and into shelter.

Do you think things in the city have improved overall since 06? I pretty much rely on SFGate for my impressions of how things are now...

[Cant trust em]

19. The homeless problem isn't changing

It's about the same as it was when I moved here five years ago. As much as the Newsom administration would like to take a bunch of credit for Care Not Cash (CNC) being wonderful and housing so many people I haven't seen those changes on the street. It seems like the people that Newsom is claiming now have housing under CNC already had housing, it's just that the place they lived is now a CNC facility. So technically he can say that CNC has housed X amount of people.

I freely admit that I am biased. I'm heavily invested in the San Francisco progressive camp that is usually getting shit on by the Chronicle. The Chronicle which treats Newsom like he's a deity. That coupled with my street level observations leads me to believe that Gavin Newsom is trying to pull the wool over my eyes and claim credit for solving issues that haven't really changed.

[Bluenorthwest]

15. I remember Quinten

And Larry Kramer too. I even remember my friends who got arrested and died. For that matter I remember that at Stonewall Dave Van Ronk got beaten just for being near the place, he wasn't even gay.
What is your point exactly? Gavin is a politician. He's not in the same catagory as people like Dr King, nor is he in the same catagory as Mr Baryard Rustin Kings's early mentor and out gay man that never gets a metion, even from the pulpit of Ebenezer church. He was King's right hand on the Washington March. Yes he was. He was the good Dr King's friend and ally.
Still Gavin is aces in my book. You don't have to be King to be an honorable person. I really don't have a ratings system for righteousness. You are on the bus or off the bus.

[El Pinko]

17. My point is that calculated political decisions aren't necessarily "righteous"

He did the right thing, but that's like turning in a wallet you found because you know a cop saw you picking it up.

Newsom took essentially no political risk in his decision and reaped significant gains.

If he had done this in almost any other city other than San Francisco, I'd be applauding him for his courage.

But because he did it in SF, I'll just say this - he was the first, and that *IS* something. Willie Brown didn't do it. He did.


You're right that politicians and civil rights pioneers don't belong in the same category, but the OP was about Newsom being in the "hall of fame":..

[mitchtv]

20. ah, but Willie Brown passed the Brown Act

for which we should all be proud. Started the ball rolling by removing legal sanctions.