25 California Mayors Band Together Against Prop 8

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa

A group of 25 mayors presiding across the state of California urged the Supreme Court to overturn California's voter-approved constitutional marriage ban.

"As Mayors, we have a responsibility to unite our cities, not divide them," the mayors wrote in a joint statement through the Courage Campaign. "Key to that is building family integrity, including ensuring all loving, committed couples in our cities have the same freedoms and rights. Proposition 8 created separate and unequal status for same-sex couples throughout California, and denies equality to same-sex couples, violating the Constitutional guarantee of due process and equal protection."

The statement was not signed by San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee, who opposed Proposition 8. He did issue his own statement, however, and ordered a rainbow flag to be flown in front of City Hall.

"Here in San Francisco, we stand ready to once again to begin marrying same sex couples," Lee said according to the Sacramento Bee. "We remain as deeply committed to the fight for marriage equality today as we were nearly nine years ago when then Mayor Gavin Newsom led the charge on one of the most important civil rights issues of our generation to ensure equal protections and rights for all."

The full list of mayors:

Mayor Bates, Berkeley
Mayor Brinton, Arcata
Mayor Boardman, Huntington Beach
Mayor Cabaldon, West Sacramento
Mayor Cassidy, San Leandro
Mayor Curtis, Monte Sereno
Mayor Filner, San Diego
Mayor Foster, Long Beach
Mayor Gin, Redondo Beach
Mayor Glass, Petaluma
Mayor Golonski, Brubank
Mayor Harrison, Fremont
Mayor Hines, Rancho Mirage
Mayor Johnson, Sacramento
Mayor Jones, Healdsburg
Mayor Krovoza, Davis
Mayor Lim, San Mateo
Mayor Low, Campbell
Mayor Matthews, Santa Clara
Mayor McLaughlin, Richmond
Mayor Pougnet, Palm Springs
Mayor Prang, West Hollywood
Mayor Quan, Oakland
Mayor Schneider, Santa Barbara
Mayor Spitaleri, Sunnyvale
Mayor Villaraigosa, Los Angeles