Yesterday, on behalf of a ranSACkedmedia reader and my own convictions, I shared a story about the Mayors for the Freedom to Marry pledge; a statement signed by well over 100 U.S. mayors that reaffirms their stance for equality. Before publication, I sent an email to mayor Kevin Johnson’s staff, asking for a statement. I didn’t get one until late last night, and in the interest of fairness I wanted to share it with you today.
From Kevin Johnson’s press secretary;
“Like President Obama, my personal belief is that marriage is between a man and a woman. But I strongly oppose discrimination being written into our constitution, and that’s why I opposed Prop 8 when it was on the ballot, supported measures on the City Council against it, and why I agree with the Court’s decision today.”
To which I reponded;
“So will he or won’t he sign the mayors for freedom pledge? He’s not the president, why is he alluding (himself) to Obama?”
That allusion to the President really bothered me. This is a pledge for mayors, why KJ thinks he should be held to the same standard as the President of the United States actually disturbs me. And for the record, it is my opinion that President Obama’s stance is a cop-out as well.
As of this writing, I have received no answer on the question of whether or not Johnson will sign the pledge.
In September of 2008, when Johnson was running for his first term as Sacramento mayor, he did in fact come out against Prop. 8, in theory at least. According to this blog post by Steve Magvillo, the head of the mayors election committee, he even “held a press conference voicing his strong opposition to Proposition 8, the measure that would ban marriage equality.”
But just a few weeks later, Johnson’s campaign helped to pay for a mailer which urged voters to “restore traditional marriage.” In response to that incident, Magvillo told Cosmo Garvin at SN&R that “You know what a slate card is – you buy to have your name on them and have no idea about what else is on them.”
I believe that’s caused plausible deniability.
Sources: Stonewall Dems, SN&R
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Interesting that someone accused more than once of child sexual abuse would be so pious as to be included on a Prop 8 slate mailer… And Steve Mavig’s massive rationalization is about as credible as KJ’s denial of these perennial allegations….
How has this “Mayors for Freedom To Marry” campaign come to be: who are the players, what efforts have been made to get Johnson’s pledge? By whom, when, with which local (or otherwise) marriage equality advocacy organization’s support or urging? What ACTIONS has Sac Stonewall Dems taken? Is there a “paper trail” of political activism here locally to get Sacramento’s mayor on board? Is there no lobbying or are the lobby efforts secretive intentionally or is this simply the sort of thing only “world class cities” are about?
From the roster of cities whose mayors have pledged, it would appear it’s something specific about Sacramento, but perhaps someone might explain the complexities to us all…
Hi MidtownSquinter! I am Neil Pople, Communications Chair for the Stonewall Democratic Club of Greater Sacramento. Mayors for the Freedom to Marry (http://www.freedomtomarry.org/pages/mayors-for-the-freedom-to-marry) is a nation-wide effort brought on by Mayors Villaraigosa (LA), Sanders (SD), Parker (Houston, TX), Menino (Boston, MA), and Bloomberg (NYC) to have municpal leaders come together and stand for equality. Over 100 mayors from Florida to Washington, Maine to Indiana and West Virginia are standing up. They’re Republicans, Democrats, straights, gays, and every bit as diverse as the country itself. I highly suggest you take a moment to check out their website and efforts.
The Stonewall Democrats have been pushing this campaign since it’s inception. When we read about the Mayors for the Freedom to Marry, we were excited to hopefully see Mayor Johnson’s name on that list. When we didn’t, we knew we needed to do something about it. Dozens of our members wrote and called the Mayor’s office, but no response was given. So, as a group, we decided to put out a petition (http://www.change.org/petitions/communication-specialist-sacramento-economic-dev-dept-sign-the-mayors-for-the-freedom-to-marry-pledge) to show Johnson that we want him to get on the right side of history.
As of this moment, we have 312 signatures (and counting), and are joined in our efforts by Sacramento County Supervisor Phil Serna, City Councilman Kevin McCarty, SMUD Board Members Genevieve Shiroma and Nancy Bui-Thompson, and Roseville School Board President Gary Miller. We also have support from Equality Action Now and Marriage Equality USA.
Hopefully this helps answer some of your questions!
Sounds deeply daunting and complicated to get facetime w/ our mayor based on your above statements, Neil. I must be misinformed as to the role, purpose and access political groups have here in Sacramento.
Perhaps a Council speaker’s slip & some seated, prepped signholders might get the ball rolling, along w/ a few carefully placed advance messages to local media, as well as letting McCarty (after Wed’s $$$ fest) know of the intent. Or Marc Solomon might be able to suggest something…
But I’m not privy to the intensely complex dealings of our “world class city’s” movers & shakers… on these hot-button issues… yawn.