I’ve long thought that the spread of same-sex marriage in America was being furthered by demographics. Aside from the more liberal attitudes among the young, each victory would bring same sex couples more into the spotlight and show how they were not a threat to society at all and would instead will help make up the bedrock.
Despite my optimism, I’ve been shocked by the speed of the recent string of victories. A judicial decision in Iowa followed by legislative implementation in Vermont and Maine. New Hampshire has passed a bill, although it is unclear whether the governor will sign it. Meanwhile, despite all the hand-wringing over African-American voting in California, the DC council decisively voted to recognize marriages from other states.
Kevin Drum makes an interesting observation about all this:
But I wonder if this is an example of how gay marriage opponents are going to end up losing this battle entirely when they could have won at least a partial victory if they'd been less strident in their opposition. If they had actively supported civil unions, that could have become the de facto standard across the country, accepted by courts and legislatures alike. But the ferocity of their opposition to any form of marriage equality might have been instrumental in convincing a lot of people like Baldacci that half measures are impossible. And if half measures are impossible, then full marriage rights are the only alternative.
Yglesias also rightly notes that this should be seen as a vindication for the judicial press for rights. Lawsuits can’t be the only way of advancing the cause, but they can be a great way to get the ball rolling.
So what’s next? The current pace is obviously unsustainable. Even so, things are going well enough that we’ll be listing Equality Maryland as a charitable alternative to our wedding registry. I had been afraid that Maryland was far enough off that it would be better to target resources elsewhere given the snowball effect. With this good news, I feel more confident in the local fight. To end on a happy local note, a few weeks ago that crazy Topeka hate group staged a protest outside of Walt Whitman High School. Apparently bigots aren’t Whitman fans. Regardless, they didn’t know who they were messing with:
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