Recently, Senator Ron Johnson (R-Wisconsin) said that although he doesn't support same-sex marriage, he would not do anything to stop it. That's a pretty amazing statement for a right-winger like Johnson. But he's not the only one. Several Republican officials have recently either come out in support of same-sex marriage, or said they would no longer oppose it.
These Republicans are just reading the writing on the wall. They know that despite the wishes of their teabagger/fundamentalist base, a significant majority of the American public supports the legalization of same-sex marriage -- and while opposition may look good in a GOP primary, it will only hurt them in a general election campaign (especially if their race is a competitive one).
The truth (a truth even some Republicans are starting to recognize) is that the battle to provide same-sex couples with the same constitutional rights given to opposite-sex couples is pretty much over. Some states will continue to hold out for a while (those controlled by teabagger Republicans) but the tide of history has turned against them. It is no longer a question of whether equal rights will be granted to same-sex couples nationwide, but only of how long it will take.
Note the charts above. Every single major poll taken in the last seven months on the issue of legalizing same-sex marriage has shown virtually the same thing -- that between 53% and 56% of the American public supports that legalization. But it goes even deeper than that. If you substitute the words "civil union" for the word "marriage", even the public in those teabagger-controlled states support equal rights for same-sex couples.
We still have a long way to go to make sure all Americans are guaranteed their equal rights under the Constitution, but we are making progress all the time -- and that makes me very proud of this country.
