GAY
MARRIAGE
IS
as
inevitable
as
Monday
morning.
And
to
many,
about
as
appealing.
Regardless
of
your
stance,
all
you
have
to
do
is
follow
the
bouncing
gavel
of
judicial
history
to
hear
the
banging
toward
inevitability.
First,
it’s
important
to
note
that
the
courts
usually
reflect
rather
than
direct
society.
For
example,
the
U.S.
Supreme
Court
declared
segregation
unconstitutional
in
1954
—
just
as
the
Civil
Rights
Movement
got
traction.
The
court
recognized
rights
for
the
poor
during
the
war
on
poverty
and
rights
for
women
during
the
women’s
liberation
movement.
The
court
is
so
influenced
by
prevailing
public
sentiments
that
it
often
overturns
its
own
decisions.
What
else
explains
the
court
finding
segregation
constitutional
in
Plessy
vs.
Ferguson
then
declaring
it
unconstitutional
60
years
later
in
Brown
vs.
Board
of
Education?
The
Constitution
didn’t
change.
We
did.
What
else
explains
the
court
finding
sodomy
laws
constitutional
in
Bowers
vs.
Hardwick
and
17
years
later
declaring
it
unconstitutional
in
Lawrence
vs.
Texas?
The
Constitution
didn’t
change.
We
did.
THE
CONSTITUTION
WON’T
change
about
marriage,
but
we
will.
That’s
because
public
attitudes
toward
sexual
orientation
vary
wildly
by
age.
The
majority
of
Americans
don’t
want
to
open
marriage
to
gay
couples,
but
if
you
look
closely
the
numbers
are
going
to
flip.
According
to
the
Pew
Research
Center’s
latest
poll,
attitudes
toward
gays
correlate
strongly
with
age
and
socio-economic
status:
White,
better-educated,
affluent
folks
are
much
more
tolerant
of
homosexuality
than
the
average
American.
Older
adults
disapprove
of
gay
marriage
by
a
factor
of
4
to
1,
while
younger
adults
are
split
right
down
the
middle.
The
demographics
of
reform
practically
guarantee
that
one
day
public
opinion
will
support
opening
marriage
to
same-sex
couples.
Exhibit
A:
the
annual
survey
of
250,000
college
freshmen,
conducted
by
the
higher
education
research
institute
at
UCLA.
In
1977,
the
survey
found
that
47
percent
of
freshmen
thought
it
was
important
to
have
“laws
against
homosexual
relationships.”
By
2002,
only
25
percent
agreed.
That’s
a
staggering
22-point
decline.
As
younger
adults
get
older,
they’re
likely
to
carry
their
social
beliefs
with
them.
It
doesn’t
take
a
clairvoyant
to
predict
the
future:
The
next
generation
of
justices
will
come
from
this
gay-friendly
group.
And
when
that
happens,
the
Robed
Ones
will
do
what
they’ve
always
done:
constitutionalize
the
consensus.
GLOBALIZATION
IS
YET
another
factor
contributing
to
the
inevitability
of
gay
marriage.
The
rest
of
the
western
world
has
far
more
tolerant
views
of
homosexuality
than
America.
A
good
deal
of
these
countries
allow
gays
to
serve
openly
in
their
armed
forces.
And
as
for
gay
marriage,
the
Netherlands
allows
it
and
as
of
this
year,
so
do
parts
of
Canada.
As
goes
the
world,
so
goes
the
United
States.
The
U.S.
Supreme
Court
will
one
day
hear
the
case
against
allowing
gays
to
marry;
just
as
it
one
day
heard
the
case
prohibiting
any
minority
from
accessing
the
rights
enjoyed
by
the
majority.
Every
landmark
civil
rights
case
has
an
eerie
similarity.
Reformers
argued
equality,
resisters
predicted
doom.
Advocates
appealed
to
our
conscience,
the
opposition
appealed
to
our
fears.
There
are
no
substantive
differences
between
the
black,
women
and
gay
civil
rights
movements.
Proponents
are
propelled
by
the
injustices
they
want
to
correct,
opponents
are
motivated
by
the
social
order
they
want
to
preserve.
The
players
changed,
but
the
roles
didn’t.
The
issues
changed,
but
the
dialogue
didn’t.
The
fights
changed,
but
the
rulings
didn’t.
Reformers
didn’t
win
every
battle
but
they
won
every
war.
In
time,
the
reformers
always
win.
It’s
not
so
much
because
of
the
rightness
of
their
causes
as
the
righteousness
of
our
country.
America
has
change
in
its
blood
the
way
other
countries
have
permanence
in
theirs.
Resistance
to
America’s
nature
is
futile.
Gay
marriage
isn’t
on
the
horizon,
but
it
is
in
the
stars.
It’s
inevitable
as
Monday
mornings.
It
just
won’t
be
a
Monday
morning
anytime
soon.
