Saturday, November 22, 2003

what a day

...and it ain't over yet. My day started around 4AM with Dad asking me to drive him to work in the family Honda, since the Ford minivan was again exhibiting problems. Long story.

Off to grab Dad from work (the cool thing-- for Dad-- about waking up at 4AM is that his shift ends around 2PM), then off to BWI (an international airport in Maryland, for those who don't know), with Dad in tow, to grab one of my brother's friends and bring her to our house. Looking forward to a flick this evening.

In the meantime, a link to a comment thread on the Peking Duck site re: probable repercussions of the MA gay marriage decision. Choice quote from the conservative Conrad of Gweilo Diaries:

Of course there's going to be a backlash, Richard, and IMO, it is going to be huge and very harmful to your cause. The Mass. court decision will, I believe, be seen retrospectively as a disaster for the gay marriage movement. When judges twist the law to reach results unforeseen by the drafters and strongly unwelcome to a large majority of the populace, the result is extreme social division and polarization.

This decision will make Roe v. Wade seem non-controversial in comparison. And, unlike abortion, which potentially directly affects 50% of the population, gay Americans are going to find themselves badly outnumbered and unsupported.

The only way to successfully achieve such a drastic and fundamental change to a central societal institution is legislatively.

My personal feelings on the subject are pretty ambivalent. I see potential risks and rewards, cost and benefits and I don't think there's anyway to know how it will work out until some state(s) actually give it a try. Had the Mass. legislature passed a bill permitting gay marriage, I'd have said "more power to them, and let's see how it works out." But to do this by judicial fiat stinks and is not in anyone's best interests.


I think a backlash is likely as well. Too bad. I just hope it's not as extreme as Conrad is predicting. Meanwhile, I encourage the Maximum Leader to post his thoughts on the legal aspects of this debate re: the judicial vs. legislative question. I plead ignorance here, so I'd like to know more.
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