GOP’s gay marriage dilemma: Concede to reality, or go all in on bigotry?

[DonViejo]

Fight? Flee? Go crazy? 2016 Republicans are struggling with how to respond to the end of same-sex marriage bans

SIMON MALOY

Next month, the Supreme Court will hand down a ruling on whether state-level same-sex marriage bans are constitutional, and whether states must recognize same-sex marriages from other states. Predicting how the justices will rule is an uncertain and ultimately pointless endeavor, but after oral arguments last week, it appears likely that the high court will end up striking down the gay marriage bans. That would represent a huge step forward for gay rights, and the 2016 Republican candidates are split on how they’d react to such a ruling.

Right now there are a few factions within the group of Republican presidential wannabes that are jockeying for position. The first is the “respect the rule of law” faction represented by presumptive candidates John Kasich and Lindsey Graham. Neither seem particularly enthused at the prospect of fighting yet another drawn-out battle over gay marriage, probably because public opinion has swung overwhelmingly in favor of marriage equality over the last decade. And so rather than dig in and make a last stand, they’re encouraging Republicans and conservatives to accept the court’s decision if they strike down the bans.

“I’m for marriage being defined as between a man and a woman,” Kasich said last week, “if the Supreme Court changes that, those changes have to be respected.” Graham was even more direct, saying that this is just where society is going and that it’s pointless to fight the inevitable. “Things are changing, so at the end of the day, being for traditional marriage without animosity is where I stand,” he said on Monday. “If the Supreme Court rules sometime this year that same-sex marriage bans are unconstitutional, then that will be a defining moment in that debate. It will be time for us to move forward as a society.”

Representing the more activist strain of 2016 Republican thinking is Sen. Ted Cruz. If the justices do strike down the gay marriage bans, Cruz wants Republicans and conservatives to use every tool at their disposal to fight back against the “lawless” and “fundamentally illegitimate” actions of the high court. This includes a proposed amendment to the Constitution that would leave all marriage decisions exclusively to the states, and a more exotic proposal to have Congress “strip federal courts of jurisdiction” over same-sex marriage issues.

And then there are the aimless dead-enders – the candidates who think that the Supreme Court can just be ignored if it rules that same-sex marriage bans are unconstitutional. This faction is represented by two of the newest entrants to the race: Mike Huckabee and Ben Carson.

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http://www.salon.com/2015/05/07/gops_gay_marriage_dilemma_concede_to_reality_or_go_all_in_on_bigotry/