Civil disobedience comes in many forms, but this time a politician is the cause.

San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom asked the county clerk’s office last week to allow homosexuals to be married within the city and county.

He went a step further to extend City Hall’s operating hours to handle the steady stream of gay couples lining up to marry.

About 2,400 couples have taken their vows since, an Associated Press story reported this week.

Newsom has done it. He’s challenged how U.S. citizens view the institution of marriage. He’s challenged both social and legal convention.

Newsom’s decree for “gender-neutral” marriages has created a three-block line this week outside of City Hall.

“Denying basic rights to members of our community will not be tolerated,” Newsom, a fourth generation San Franciscan, said in a press release Feb. 10.

“America has struggled since its inception to eradicate discrimination in all forms. California’s Constitution leaves no doubts; it leaves no room for any form of discrimination,” he said last Thursday.

The man is brave. Newsom defied state law, and it’s beautiful.

The 36-year-old owner of several California businesses is married to well-known legal prosecutor and analyst, Kimberly Guilfoyle Newsom.

Details called her a “hotter Gretta Van Susteren,” in its November issue.

Aside from details about his life, the magazine reported Newsom’s polices aren’t always well-liked.

“Gavin’s been pied’; if I saw that, I’d jump on their back and pull their hair,” Kimberly said in the article.

Newsom is playing hero at a time when the Massachusetts high court decided gays in its state should be guaranteed full legal rights of marriage. The state’s Legislature has attempted to amend the decision, and President George Bush has announced his opposition with plans for an anti-gay Federal Marriage Amendment.

California conservative groups say Newsom does not have the authority to rule on marriage laws.

Two judges ruled Tuesday to delay action by the groups to nullify the gay marriages.

Social movements can be fueld from bold decisions, such as the bus boycotts and lunch counter sit-ins during the Civil Rights Movement.

Newsom’s decision will help the movement for gay rights.

Not many, in countries all over the world, need to be told all laws are always right. Laws banning gay couples not only from what should be a basic civil right, but from such conveniences as health benefits and hospital visits, are not humane rules.

They were set up by a society, perhaps full of good intentions, but scared to acknowledge people will never fit into just one category; a society scared to part ways with the past, afraid to see the institution of marriage as a right that can be offered to more than a man and a woman.

Newsom saw an error in society’s judgment. He justified his will to correct it with California’s equal protection clause.

“California’s Constitution is clear: discrimination is immoral, it is illegal and it is antithetical to our most cherished values: liberty and freedom,” Newsom said.

Most of the midlife couples the AP has reported on recently have been partners for more than 10 years.

Reading this, I realized why it wasn’t Newsom’s movie-star looks or even his aggressive plans for the state’s welfare payments that have been making the news lately. It’s his bold move to finally begin clearing a path for a needed reform in the institution of marriage.

Couples from as far as Europe have traveled to California for the opportunity to marry. Newsom said if the courts put in an end to it all, San Francisco will pursue a constitutional challenge.

Imagine making thousands, if not millions, smile with one decision. Newsom did it.