I recently commented on fears that gay marriage will be an effective mass mobilization issue for rank-and-file conservatives, noting that such a threat seemed overblown. As a reader e-mailed to point out, Michael Greve, a scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, made the same point back in March when he wrote:
I disagree with the widely held notion that judicial overreach [courts requiring states to recognize gay marriage] would spark a backlash and a lasting social rift akin to the division generated by Roe v. Wade. There is no such thing as a "charming" abortion, and nobody celebrates an abortion with friends and family. The certainty that each abortion (40 million and counting) is an act of brutal aggression sustains the Right to Life movement.
In contrast, even adamant opponents of same-sex marriage as an institution can think of a charming same-sex couple and of a union worth celebrating. And who precisely are the victims that command our compassion and protection? Movement-sustaining fervor at this front is hard to come by, and easily lost amid messy details and conflicting emotions. (emphasis added)
That's not to say that achieving gay marriage, or even civil
unions, won't require a long, drawn out fight throughout the length
and breadth of the nation, especially to defeat or overturn
statewide constitutional amendments and DOMA laws. But what we
learned from the recent Senate vote is that the grass-roots troops
aren't calling, writing, and pestering their elected officials with
the vehemence they express over abortion. That's a positive worth
bearing in mind.
More Recent Postings
7/25/04 - 7/31/04