In his column for the Washington Post, Eugene Robinson writes of his hopes that the U.S. Supreme Court will not halt the country's rapid movement toward acceptance of same-sex marriage.
The two big cases being argued before the court this week could turn out to be landmarks that confirm the nation’s progress toward marriage equality — or speed bumps that impede it. Either way, the destination is clear: Nearly 60 percent of Americans approve of gay marriage, according to a Post-ABC News poll, including 80 percent of adults under 30. That looks like less a question than a decision.
You'd think the justices would have these numbers in mind as they consider Proposition 8, the voter initiative that revoked gay-marriage rights in California, and the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which prohibits federal recognition of legally performed same-sex unions. But the conservative wing of the court has no great respect for public opinion. You may recall that residents of the District of Columbia overwhelmingly supported a handgun ban that the court blithely overturned …
Even a double defeat for the forces of fairness and inclusion is conceivable, although such a result would be so illogical that even this court, the most activist in decades, probably couldn’t manage it with a straight face.
Read Eugene Robinson's entire piece at the Washington Post.
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