NEW YORK (AP) – A gay appointee of Mayor Michael Bloomberg has resigned because of the mayor’s opposition to legislation that would expand domestic partnership benefits.

Matt Foreman, executive director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, wrote Bloomberg that “principle requires that I resign” from the Commission on Human Rights after the Bloomberg administration went to court to try to block the Equal Benefits Law from being enforced.

The law, which took effect Oct. 27, requires companies with city contracts worth at least $100,000 to provide health, family and bereavement benefits to domestic partners, gay or straight.

After the city council passed the legislation in May, Bloomberg vetoed it. The city council overrode the veto, which prompted the Bloomberg administration to sue.

Bloomberg has said he opposes the legislation because the procurement policy should not be used to promote social issues. He also has said the city might be faced with higher prices for goods and services if the law goes into effect.

The law, known as Local Law 27, is opposed by several groups that do business with the city, including the Salvation Army and Catholic Charities.

A Supreme Court judge rejected a city bid to delay enforcement of the law, though the city’s lawsuit is still pending.

After the decision, Corporation Counsel Michael Cardozo said in a statement: “Local Law 27 violates state and federal law and as an invalid law is not going to be implemented by the administration.”

Foreman said he is “baffled” by Bloomberg’s opposition to Local law 27.

“This is not a political issue, this is not a cost issue,” he said. “This is an issue important for gay families.”

He pointed out that despite Bloomberg’s resistance to supporting a law that promotes social policy through city purchasing, the mayor signed the Living Wage Law, which guarantees at least $8.10 an hour plus health benefits for some 50,000 healthcare workers employed by companies with city contracts.

Foreman has been one of Bloomberg’s staunchest allies in the GLBT community. He is the former executive director of the Empire State Pride Agenda and was as a member of Bloomberg’s mayoral transition team in 2001.

Bloomberg spokesperson Jordan Barowitz said the administration sued “because the law is illegal.”

“The administration’s decision to litigate Local Law 27 had nothing to do with the mayor’s commitment to equal rights and benefits for domestic partners in the gay and lesbian community,” Barowitz said.

He said Foreman was a “valued member” of the 13-member human rights commission, which addresses discrimination citywide, and will be missed.