Beautiful San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom released a statement this afternoon in response to Connecticut's lift of the gay marriage ban.

Newsom sparked the same sex marriage movement in California when he started marrying gay couples in 2004.

"Today, the Connecticut Supreme Court took an historic step by joining California and Massachusetts in the fight to provide marriage equality for gay and lesbian couples. The Court’s decision to overturn Connecticut’s ban on equal marriage rights indicates that all across the country, communities are reaching the conclusion that separate is not equal, and that we should not harm our friends, neighbors and coworkers by denying them equal treatment under the law."

Our task now is to protect marriage equality at the ballot box in California by voting No on Proposition 8.

Newsom has also formed an exploratory committee to run for Governor of California. We say run Gavin, run!