Is the GOP Finally Accepting the Inevitability of Gay Marriage?

Yesterday I had lunch with Wayne Coleman who had been the GOP candidate for the Virginia Senate seat vacated by Ralph Northam when he became Lt. Governor.  Coleman lost the election by less than a dozen votes and will admit that as a first time candidate he had made some missteps and had been portrayed negatively.  Having run for political office myself 20 years ago, I know all too well that they are few things more brutal and that the media and one's opponent will do all they can to destroy you.   At the time I ran for office, I was depicted as being "Christian Right" - I joked with Coleman that I guess I'd had the last laugh on that one.  Our lunch meeting was in follow up to our conversation at the HRBOR Third Thursday in March and the purpose was to (i) allow Coleman to let me get to know him and prove to me that he is no bigot, and (ii) for me to enlighten him on LGBT issues and prove to him that I am not a wild eyed bomb thrower.  I think we both accomplished our goals and I could easily see Coleman at a dinner party at our home in the future.  We both agree that the Christofascists are killing the GOP.

How does this relate to the title of this post?  Because it underscores that some in the GOP are coming to realize that not only is same sex marriage on a nationwide basis is inevitable, but that it is something that they need to support. A piece in The Daily Beast looks at the changing attitudes within the GOP outside of the Christofascist/Tea Party elements of the GOP.  Here are some excerpts:

Conventioneers at the Nevada Republican Party just did a remarkable thing. They decided Republicans should be consistent with their philosophy of more freedom and less government—so they eliminated opposition to gay marriage from their party platform.

And now there is a move to change anti-gay language in the national GOP platform. A group called Young Conservatives for the Freedom to Marry, which includes Margaret Hoover (who is married to Daily Beast editor in chief John Avlon), Abby Huntsman, Meghan McCain, and Tyler Deaton, announced Wednesday that they are launching a $1 million campaign to eliminate harsh language and replace it with unifying framing, while still respecting differing views on marriage within the party.

The goal of the campaign is to reform the national platform. To do so, Young Conservatives are traveling to the four early primary states—New Hampshire, Iowa, Nevada, and South Carolina—this spring and summer to talk to elected and rank-and-file Republicans.

The reform-the-platform campaign is a response to the Republican National Committee Growth and Opportunity Project report (PDF) and the College Republicans report (PDF), both of which say the party has a major problem with younger voters.

Gay marriage is the last frontier of civil rights in this country. But the train is at last leaving the station.  And it’s picking up steam fast. Recent polling reveals that 61 percent of Republicans under 30 now support gay marriage. Ten federal court judges in a row have now ruled favorably on the issue, two of them appointed by Republican presidents.

Towering Republican figures such as Ted Olson, who successfully argued the recount before the Supreme Court in Bush v. Gore, and former Wyoming senator Alan Simpson, who recently starred in an ad extolling the values of marriage for everyone, are helping to lead the fight, sending a strong signal that it’s time the GOP shifted gears.

Obviously, once gay marriage goes mainstream even within the GOP hate groups like Family Research Council and The Family Foundation here in Virginia will be facing major fundraising catastrophes and folks like Tony Perkins, Brian Brown and Victoria Cobb may be faced with the terrifying prospects of (i) having to get real jobs instead of peddling hate, and (ii) no longer being able to force their hate/fear based religion on others.