Same-sex marriage: Will Republicans vote ‘no’?
Republicans are “squirming” over an upcoming Senate vote on same-sex marriage, said Jeremy Stahl in Slate. Last week, House Democrats and 47 Republicans passed the Respect for Marriage Act, which would codify the Supreme Court’s 2015 Obergefell v. Hodges decision, making marriage equality the law of the land. Democrats say the bill is necessary after the court struck down Roe v. Wade, with conservative Justice Clarence Thomas urging the court to “revisit” same-sex marriage and other cases since the conservative majority has ruled that a right to privacy does not exist in the Constitution. That created an opening “for Democrats to actually put Republicans on the back foot for a change.” Two-thirds of Americans oppose banning gay marriage, but the GOP base is split. That leaves many Republicans awkwardly struggling to explain their opposition, with Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida calling the bill a “stupid waste of time.”
He’s right, and Republicans should vote “no,” said National Review in an editorial. Democrats want to cast opponents of same-sex marriage “as a dwindling band of bigots.” But the “facile argument” that marriage laws only affect individual couples has proved “risibly untrue,” as “religious universities, schools, religious orders, and adoption agencies” have endured “all manner of legal threats” to recognize same-sex unions. But while Obergefell was “constitutionally dubious” and socially disruptive, “the prospect of the decision’s reversal is vanishingly small.” Democrats are claiming there’s an emergency “because a grand total of one justice” wants to reassess Obergefell.
“We’ve heard that before,” said Matt Ford in
The New Republic. Conservatives spent decades working to undo Roe while assuring liberals it was settled law, scoffing at the concerns of abortion-rights activists as “hysterical and unrealistic.” Conservatives are essentially arguing that Thomas is “a harmless kook” who can safely be ignored, said Jonathan Chait in New York magazine. But not long ago the same conservatives were warning that same-sex marriage would destroy marriage itself and lead to “social collapse.” Since a significant chunk of the GOP base—evangelicals especially—still view gays and lesbians marrying as a sinful abomination, “few Republicans wish to renounce their old stance completely.” Was marriage equality a terrible mistake or an important step forward for human rights? Democrats should force Republicans to take a side.