Conservative columnist George Will has likely earned himself hate and derision from the Kool-Aid drinking set and many within the gay-hating elements of the Republican Party. Why? Because Will has said that he believes that the GOP appeal of rulings striking down the Defense of Marriage Act ("DOMA") will likely lose at the U. S. Supreme Court. As often noted on this blog, DOMA has no reason for its existence other than religious based discrimination against same sex couples and the Christianist desire to keep LGBT Americans inferior under the civil laws. And religious prejudice does not justify disparate treatment of citizens under the Equal Protection Clause no matter how strong the Christianist animus towards gays. Here are highlights from an article in The Advocate that looks at Will's prediction:
Conservative commentator George Will predicts that if the Supreme Court must decide on the legality of same-sex marriage, then it will side with equality.
"What about gay marriage?" host George Stephanopoulos asked Will. "I wonder if Justice Kennedy sticking with the conservatives this time around on health care means that he will free himself up to approve gay marriage."
Will said Justice Kennedy is "much misunderstood" because his rulings falsely appear to put him all over the idealogical map.
"People say he's somehow squishy or unprincipled," Will said. "I think he's driven in both directions by a constant compass, and that is he's a libertarian. And the libertarian dimension of him may cause him to be the fifth vote — there won't be six — but to be the fifth vote for gay marriage."
Will's opinions carry weight among a certain set of opinion-makers. He sparked headlines, for example, when he wrote a column in 2009 saying flatly that it was time for the U.S. to get out of Afghanistan.
The likelihood that the court will decide on marriage equality is increasing. For the first time, House Republicans on Friday appealed to the Supreme Court to overturn a lower court ruling that the Defense of Marriage Act is unconstitutional. And the court could opt to hear the Proposition 8 case out of California if that is also appealed.
It goes without saying that I hope that Mr. Will's prediction proves accurate.
1 comment:
I certainly agree with George Will. There is no reason whatsoever for the Defense of Marriage Act other than to defend the Fundamental Christian view of marriage.
As a married liberal Christian, I do not feel that gay marriage has any impact at all on my 46 year long marriage.
In fact, if marriage does need defending, it is from those heterosexual men and women who treat it as a temporary lark which can be done away with at will for no other reason than that they desire to put it to an end.
Jack Scott
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