IGF CultureWatch

The Washington Post takes a look at fast-moving recent events in "Same-Sex Marriage Vaulted Into Spotlight." From backlash to counter-backlash (or "frontlash"?), these are the benchmarks that are defining what some contend is "the fastest-growing civil rights movement we've seen in a generation."

A tangent: In the Post story, proponents and opponents of gay marriage both have their say, but this stood out:

Rick Garcia, political director for Equality Illinois, worries that too much focus on the marriage issue could jeopardize legislation outlawing discrimination against gays. "Sometimes, it makes our job harder," he said.

In other words, he thinks that adding more government directives on the hiring and promotion policies made by private employers trumps equality before the law and the ability to partake in society's most fundamental institution.

Giving priority to employment discrimination laws was the great hoax sold to the gay community, since (a) it's easy for companies to discriminate without formally announcing that they're doing so, and (b) the only way around (a) is through quotas/preferences tied to "disparate impact" studies showing the proportion of a minority in a given jurisdiction is under-represented in terms of a company's hiring/promotion numbers. That's just not going to happen with gays, so anti-discrimination laws are at best symbolic -- nice to have as a sign government doesn't countenance discrimination, but of little, if any, additional value.

Right and Left, Transposed.

Ok, back to marriage. In the National Journal's Feb. 28 issue (not available online), William Powers writes that gay and lesbian couples

are begging to embrace the very institution that President Bush and his supporters consider "the most fundamental institution of civilization," as Bush himself put it this week. In short, the Lefties want to do something so traditional it's downright conservative, and the Righties won't hear of it.

Pretty ironic, huh?

The New Mainstream.

And speaking of history in the making, conservative columnist George Will writes:

More telling was Chicago Mayor Richard Daley's casual statement that he would have "no problem" with Cook County issuing such licenses. Daley, whom you might send to Mars to show Martians what a typical American is like, is about as radical as a grilled cheese sandwich. His reaction to same-sex marriage is evidence that the American center has no stomach for what looks increasingly like a struggle over mere custody of the word "marriage."

Will goes on to note that "At this point it seems probable that the president's proposal to amend the Constitution to define marriage as between a man and a woman would not be ratified by three-quarters of the states even if it could -- which seems unlikely -- muster two-thirds support in both houses of Congress."

I think the social right is beginning to experience shock that their constitutional gambit has no traction, which may just drive them to push all the harder for it up to and at the GOP convention. At which point the public backlash to their anti-gay backlash just might give them whiplash.