Sometimes, for a little bit of schadenfreude, I like to look at the Facebook page for the National Organization for Marriage (NOM) to get their take on recent developments in the advancement of LGBTI rights. I'm not allowed to comment there anymore, but it's fun to lurk. So, what's their message to their supporters after equality's successes in states like California, New Jersey, Hawaii, and Illinois? This:
A group of shadowy figures holding hands across the South, gazing upon an outdated map, determined to fight for their outdated values. How apt. And it's not like nobody's tending the page. They've got recent updates decrying ENDA, denouncing the Hawaii legislature for allowing all couples to get Maui'd (see what I did there?), and, oh yeah, this gem:
They say they see bright things in their future, but the reality keeps hitting them that their best days are in the past. Public opinion is rapidly shifting away from them, they keep losing in state after state, and for some of them, it must be starting to sink in that it's a battle they can't win. I am reminded of the Japanese soldiers who kept fighting for the Emperor on remote jungle islands long after the conclusion of World War II. We're not to that point yet, since two-thirds of the country still lives in states without marriage equality, but we're rapidly approaching it.
It must be demotivating not only for them, but more importantly for their donors. Who wants to throw money at a lost cause? How much longer can organizations like NOM keep up the act? I don't have any illusions that homophobic attitudes about marriage will ever completely go away (you can still find people opposed to interracial marriage), but eventually, once the next generation takes over, once marriage equality comes to places like Alabama and Utah, they will have to lay down their arms and give up the fight. It's inevitable. And if the victors of the Prop 8 case are right, it's going to happen sooner than a lot of people think:
In the decision striking as unconstitutional the so-called "DOMA" or "Defense of Marriage" case, the United States Supreme Court held that there was no purpose for depriving gay and lesbian couples of the right to marry the person they love. There was no legitimate justification for that. As Justice Scalia noted, that holding, that principle, guarantees the right of every individual in every state to marriage equality.
In the California case, the Supreme Court held that the proponents of Proposition 8 did not have standing. What that means is that in that case, the Supreme Court could not reach the merits. But everything that the Supreme Court said in the "Defense of Marriage" opinion, where they did reach the merits, demonstrates that when that case does come to the United States Supreme Court on the merits, marriage equality will be the law throughout this land.
—David Boies
It took less than five years to strike down Proposition 8, and to restore marriage equality to the most populous state in this land. So today, let's set a new goal: within five years, we will bring marriage equality to all fifty states in this vast country.
—Chad Griffin
Five years is optimistic, sure, but I think it's feasible. We're already starting to see the legal ripples of the Windsor decision. Marriage equality is now the law in New Jersey and Hawaii partly because the "separate but equal" civil unions they had clearly weren't equal without the new federal benefits of marriage. Windsor is affecting the judges' thoughts in the current case before the New Mexico Supreme Court. It opened the door for a lawsuit in Michigan, and another one has been filed in Virginia by the people who won the Proposition 8 case.
It's just a matter of time, and probably not much time, before a legal challenge to a state marriage ban reaches the Supreme Court. And I'm with David Boies; I think that when that happens, the Court will rule that all Americans are entitled to their Fourteenth Amendment rights no matter what state they live in, consigning organizations like NOM to the dustbin of history. What say ye?