The Prop 8 Trial
It’s unusual for me to find someone stating my own perspective on something better than I can. It’s even more rare when that statement is coming from someone I thought hadn’t even the awareness of that perspective, much less agreed with it. Nonetheless that’s where I find myself today. Both in an op-ed piece in [...]
It’s unusual for me to find someone stating my own perspective on something better than I can. It’s even more rare when that statement is coming from someone I thought hadn’t even the awareness of that perspective, much less agreed with it.
Nonetheless that’s where I find myself today. Both in an op-ed piece in Newsweek magazine, and in his opening statement to the court, Ted Olsen articulated the case for gay marriage from a constitutional and social perspective way better than I could.
I’ve long regarded Mr. Olsen as firmly in the enemy camp, given his impeccable conservative credentials as lifelong Republican and member of both the Reagan and Bush I administrations. In fact, I was so suspicious of him that I questioned his motives for bringing what many in the GLBT community regard as the wrong lawsuit at the wrong time–maybe he really wanted to get negative rulings which would set back the eventuality of gay marriage for years if not decades.
My bad. I’ve been convinced of his bonafides, because his argument is the one that needs to be made, and because he’s in the best position to make it. The argument (which I first saw articulated in Jonathan Rauch‘s book Gay Marriage) is that true conservative principles argue for, not against, gay marriage. As he says,
“Marriage is one of the basic building blocks of our neighborhoods and our nation. At its best, it is a stable bond between two individuals who work to create a loving household and a social and economic partnership. We encourage couples to marry because the commitments they make to one another provide benefits not only to themselves but also to their families and communities. Marriage requires thinking beyond one’s own needs. It transforms two individuals into a union based on shared aspirations, and in doing so establishes a formal investment in the well-being of society. The fact that individuals who happen to be gay want to share in this vital social institution is evidence that conservative ideals enjoy widespread acceptance. Conservatives should celebrate this, rather than lament it.”
I couldn’t have said it better.
