Progressive San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom compared American race and gender struggles with that of same-sex marriage, calling the issue “the last great civil rights struggle,” during a speech at UCSD on Monday.

Speaking at an annual contemporary legal lecture, Newsom said he was “more resolved than ever” to support same-sex marriage and slammed arguments set by conservatives, Christian groups and both political parties.

“Tradition is often used as an argument against same-sex marriage, but throughout American history discrimination has been supported by the courts and constitutionally justified,” Newsom said.

He pointed to the Supreme Court’s declaration in the early 1900s that African Americans “would never be American citizens,” to the women’s suffrage movement of the 1800s, and to 16 states’ interracial marriage bans, one as recently as 1967.

“This country and its laws have enforced discrimination,” he said. “This [same-sex marriage] is the last great civil rights struggle and it’s in our lifetime. We have a moral obligation to treat everyone equally and fairly. It’s about righting the wrongs of the past, about giving people the dignity to live their lives out loud.”

Newsom said that it was President Bush’s State of the Union address in January 2003 that gave him the impetus to begin issuing gender-neutral marriage licenses in San Francisco, as quickly as could be arranged.

“I realized then and there that … [Bush] was going to use his presidency to advance an effort that would write discrimination into the Constitution of the United States in order to advance his political career,” Newsom said.

Newsom told the packed auditorium he was “surprised” at how quickly and easily the law could be altered to allow marriage equality for same-sex couples, and said Feb. 12, 2003, when the first 90 same-sex couples were married in San Francisco, was “remarkable” and “extraordinary.”

“There was no chaos, no riots. I think the institution of marriage has been enhanced,” he said. “What they got was couples with their children, aunts, parents, grandparents; they saw families coming together. This was about the validation of a child’s life, the validation of a parent’s life.”

Newsom’s action resulted in over 4,000 same-sex marriages in San Francisco between mid-February and mid-March 2003 before the state Supreme Court put a stop to them. In August of that year, the Supreme Court ruled that Newsom had overstepped his bounds and nullified the same-sex marriage licenses.

Twelve gay and lesbian couples filed a lawsuit shortly thereafter challenging the validity of denying marriage licenses to same-sex couples, and a San Francisco Superior Court judge ruled earlier this year in their favor. The case is pending appeal and is expected to reach the state Supreme Court by next year.

At Monday’s speech, Newsom hit back at criticism that his approach was “too much, too fast, too soon,” and quoted Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. as saying, “Wait almost always means never.”

“How dare they say we should wait to allow people into an institution I and others take for granted,” he said. “Shame on them. What about Britney Spears’ [first marriage, which lasted two days]? You can do that, but you can’t spend four decades together and have the same legal rights?”

Newsom also said he has found a balance between his moral and religious beliefs, adding, “I’ve come to grips with my church on [the issues of] divorce, contraception, abortion, stem cell research and, of course, same-sex marriage.”

He pledged to fight for marriage equality “as long as I breathe,” and said there was no turning back. “It’s about people and their families, that’s what we can’t ever forget. We’ve humanized it, brought it into people’s living rooms.”

He added that his decision to issue gender-neutral marriage licenses “is the proudest thing I’ve ever done.”

Professor Barbara Cox, a respected local GLBT legal scholar and panelist at the lecture, said, “The importance of what Mr. Newsom did can’t be galvanized. He put the money and resources of San Francisco behind a vow for same-sex marriage. We all watched as 4,000 couples braved cold nights and rain in the streets to marry the person they love. Human beings are bereft of worth and dignity by making them as interchangeable as trains.”