BY THOM SENZEE
SAN DIEGO — A promise from San Diego Mayor Bob Filner to step up his work with groups such as Mayors for the Freedom to Marry if the Supreme Court does not strike down both DOMA and Prop. 8 was buried amid last week’s hubbub regarding the City’s contract with ConVis, the hotels consortium.
San Diego LGBT Weekly asked the mayor at his weekly press conference if he would take a more prominent role in Mayors for the Freedom to Marry and similar groups if either or both of the two anti-equality laws currently under deliberation at the U.S. Surpeme Court are left standing after rulings are announced.
“It remains to be seen (what the court will do),” Filner said. “But, yes; yes, I would.”
However, the mayor, a Democrat, suggested that holding him to the same standard of perceived commitment to marriage equality that his predecessor, Republican Mayor Jerry Sanders enjoyed might not be completely fair.
Sanders changed his position from opposition to marriage equality to vigorous support for same-sex marriages – after his daughter came out publicly as a lesbian. In fact, before his term was over, he served as co-chair of Mayors for the Freedom to Marry, becoming one the GOP’s loudest pro-equality voices nationally.
“Obviously, because of the way that Mayor Sanders came to that conclusion, and the fact that he was a Republican, allowed him to be more magnified and influential,” Filner said. “But I am already a member of those same groups, and I share his philosophy.”
Filner voted for the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act while in congress. During the mayoral election last year he told LGBT Weekly (Issue 71, March 29, 2012) that he regretted his vote almost immediately after it was cast.
“I have since voted differently and signed things differently,” Filner said. “… The unfairness of it worked out in so many practical ways, whether it’s hospital visits or whatever.”
