SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom criticized New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s inconsistency for publicly supporting gay marriage, but challenging a court decision allowing it.

“I think if you believe something, you’ve got to act on it,” Newsom said at a news conference Thursday. “If you don’t believe in it, don’t act on it. But don’t say you believe something and then do everything to stifle that belief.”

A judge in New York state’s trial-level court ruled last week that the state’s ban on gay marriages is unconstitutional. The case was brought by five gay couples who sued after being denied marriage licenses by the city.

New York is among the few states without laws explicitly defining marriage as between a man and a woman, making it an important venue in the gay marriage debate.

In response to the ruling, Bloomberg said: “My personal opinion is that anybody should be allowed to marry anybody. I don’t happen to think we should put restrictions on who you should marry.” It was the first time in his three years in office that he stated his personal position on same-sex marriage.

But Bloomberg, a Republican, also said that the city would appeal the decision in order to get a definitive ruling from the courts and avoid the kind of “chaos” that occurred in San Francisco after nearly 4,000 gay couples who tied the knot with City Hall’s blessing later saw their marriages declared invalid.

Newsom said he spoke out because of comments like that made by Bloomberg and his staff.

“He talked about, almost referred to the chaos in San Francisco,” Newsom said. “That’s what Gov. (Arnold) Schwarzenegger said. Where was the chaos in this city? It’s just wrong to say that.”

Newsom triggered a political firestorm last year when he ordered the city clerk to issue marriage licenses to gay couples. More than 4,000 couples married in San Francisco before the California Supreme Court ruled unanimously that the mayor overstepped his authority and voided the marriages.

Bloomberg’s office could not be reached for comment Friday morning.