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Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Homo CA Supremes: Did Gavin Ask CA Supremes to Delay Decision?

Posted by Dan Savage on Wed, May 20, 2009 at 12:48 PM

From Towleroad:

Confidential sources close to San Francisco City Hall told Towleroad's Corey Johnson that the California Supreme Court was prepared to release its opinion on Proposition 8 tomorrow, but decided to delay the ruling after a call from Mayor Gavin Newsom.

"Newsom reached out to the Supreme Court and asked them to hold off releasing their decision so it did not coincide with the White Night riots," said our source.

Thursday is the 30th anniversary of the White Night riots. The riot took place after a jury convicted Harvey Milk's murderer, Dan White, of voluntary manslaughter, not first-degree murder, in the assassination of Milk and SF's mayor George Moscone. When word got out that White has been sentenced to just seven years in prison—and could be out in just five—the city's gay community exploded. More here on the riots, the original "No More Mr. Nice Gay" uprising.

If it's true that Newsom asked the CA Supremes to delay their decision for this reason... well, it looks like Newsom believes there's a good chance that the decision will come down against marriage equality and he's worried about a repeat of the White Night riots.

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Comments (15) RSS

Oldest First Unregistered On Registered On Add a comment

I'd say erring on the side of caution in a 50/50 chance of it going either way is understandable.

Posted by boxofbirds on May 20, 2009 at 12:56 PM

This, plus now it looks like the deal for gay marriage in New Hampshire may have come undone. Oh well, at least it's two steps forward and one step back these days instead of one step forward and two back.

Posted by Mason on May 20, 2009 at 12:57 PM

Technically, wouldn't Stonewall qualify as the ORIGINAL "NMMr.NG" riots?

Posted by COMTE

on May 20, 2009 at 1:06 PM

Hm. rumor also was that the cops were told the results as well, so they would be prepared.

If Gavin knows, he will tell someone who will tell someone who will tell Towelroad

Posted by Womyn2me on May 20, 2009 at 1:08 PM

Well that narrows it down. The decision has to be announced on a Monday or Thursday. This coming Monday is a holiday and June 4th is after the June 3rd deadline so that leaves May 28th and June 1st. My money is on May 28th but who knows.

Posted by Bill W.

on May 20, 2009 at 1:30 PM

Come. On.

Get the decision over with already.

Although I see where Newsom is coming from.

Posted by Chitown Kev on May 20, 2009 at 1:36 PM

Actually Newsom has to get his tux from the cleaners before the big announcement...

Posted by really. I swear. on May 20, 2009 at 2:04 PM

As a San Franciscan I can tell you Newsom isn't known for his foresight - hopefully he's wrong about this and just being overly cautious.

Posted by PedestrianMe

on May 20, 2009 at 2:05 PM

I mean, if anyone heard the oral arguments, it's unfortunately pretty clear how the court is going to rule... :(

Posted by sara on May 20, 2009 at 2:12 PM

holy cow. you mean the court didn't think of that before they decided on the date of announcement? totally asking for it.

Posted by onion on May 20, 2009 at 2:52 PM

Sadly, I'm with #9. Oral arguments were brutal for the good guys. It appears Prop 8 will stand, as will pre-Prop 8 marriages.

Posted by California on May 20, 2009 at 4:13 PM

So it gets delayed till next week or something. I'm not sure that will help. If the ruling goes against the gays, I don't think they are any more or less likely to riot than they would be if the announcement came down today.

Posted by Reverse Polarity on May 20, 2009 at 4:46 PM

Any kind of violence associated with marriage rights would be a huge mistake. Keep the focus on love, not anger.

Posted by crazycatguy on May 20, 2009 at 5:07 PM

Mayor Newsom's office just issued the following press release.
------------------------------------------------
Statement from Nathan Ballard, Communications Director, Mayor Gavin Newsom on Propositon 8 Ruling

05/20/09 - Today a website posted an item that quoted a false allegation from an unnamed source: "Mayor [Gavin] Newsom reached out to the Supreme Court and asked them to hold off releasing their decision so it did not coincide with the White Night riots."

This allegation is not true. We have asked the website to correct the item immediately.
------------------------------------------------
Towleroad updated their website accordingly.

Posted by MetroWestJP on May 20, 2009 at 6:04 PM