With the clink of champagne glasses, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa on Monday became the latest politician to preside over the marriage of a same-sex couple, uniting a Hollywood producer and his five-year companion in a short ceremony at City Hall.
The mayor joined a growing list of political figures who are eagerly officiating gay weddings -- and gambling that championing same-sex marriage will not come at a political cost. Yet Monday's ceremony showed the risks faced by politicians who embrace the issue, which remains controversial among voters.
Moments after the champagne was poured, a woman who introduced herself as the "Angel of the Trinity" strode up to the podium to denounce the ceremony and call Villaraigosa an "adulterer" -- a reference to his extramarital affair with a television reporter.
"I don't believe that gay marriage is morally right," said Rosalyn Schultz of Hesperia, moments after the mayor shooed her away from the lectern. Schultz went on to warn that such unions would invite earthquakes, hurricanes and tornadoes.
Producer Bruce Cohen, one of the grooms, said the interruption "added spice" to the ceremony. "It doesn't spoil our day. It doesn't take away our joy," he told City News Service. "And it certainly doesn't change the fact that we are legally married in the state of California."
Villaraigosa quickly left the room, and his spokesman, Matt Szabo, had no comment on the incident. But last week, the mayor said that allowing same-sex couples to marry boils down to a fundamental issue of equality.
"The California electorate is coming into a new age realizing that [gay] marriage is an institution that supports family values, and it's certainly one I support," Villaraigosa said. "I certainly respect people of faith who disagree. I also respect the law, and I'm sworn to uphold the law."
Since the state Supreme Court ruled last month that gays have a fundamental right to wed, politicians throughout Los Angeles have become eager to officiate same-sex marriages -- events that could deliver political goodwill and possibly lead to financial support in an election.
While Villaraigosa was in Israel last week, City Council President Eric Garcetti wheeled an upright piano onto the south lawn of City Hall so he could preside over a wedding between two of his former staffers.
Councilman Bill Rosendahl, who is openly gay, showed up at one of the state's first same-sex weddings last week and was mistaken for a rabbi by one news reporter.
