And what would be wrong with that? Seems to be a pretty effective way to force the issue into court. I wish some mayor *would* start issuing CCW permits in defiance of state law, citing the US contitution as precedent.
So Newsom is doing exactly what you suggest - he is challenging the law in court, just in a roundabout way.
I also just don't understand what everyone else here seems to instictively know - How does letting two gay men, or two gay women, marry one another weaken the marriage I have with my wife or the institution of marriage as a whole? Will my wife stop loving me because a couple of guys in the city love each other? Are our vows somehow compromised by this?
As far as I can tell, I woke up this morning next to my wife, just as married as I was when I went to bed yesterday, no difference. People used to predict all sorts of doom-and-gloom if a black man were to marry a white woman (gasp!), and we seemed to have survived that ok. The only downside I see if that competition for good wedding sites might be even more intense now than before. Honestly, I don't see what all the fuss is about.