A Most-Wanted List: Mayors Not for Marriage

Mayors for the Freedom to Marry, a project of Evan Wolfson's Freedom to Marry organization, asks city bosses to sign a pledge backing marriage equality. So far, 154 mayors have signed the pledge, with 25 coming from the top 50 most populous U.S. cities. But that means there are 25 big-city mayors who still haven't signed.

Among them are Mike Rawlings of Dallas, who angered many with the following explanation: "I'm a bit pledge-phobic. I think America has got too many pledges out there and I think it's simplistic and not substantive. I'm a mayor that wants to be substantive."

What do other mayors on the most-wanted list have to say for themselves? Click next for statements that The Advocate has gathered from some of the other major holdouts.