Why Opposing Gay Marriage is Bad for the GOP

It's one thing for a progressive blogger to take the GOP to task for its continued opposition to marriage equality. But it's another thing for a card-carrying member of the Republican Party to say that the GOP is on the wrong side of history when it comes to equal rights for gay and lesbian couples.

Jeb Golinkin, an editor with the FrumForum -- named after and founded by former George W. Bush speechwriter David Frum -- penned a piece that argues in the weeks, months and years down the road, the GOP is going to thank those Republicans that are standing up for the rights of gays and lesbians to marry. First and foremost among those Republican proponents of same-sex marriage? Ted Olson, the former Republican Solicitor General who is now co-leading a federal court case arguing that gays and lesbians should have the right to marry.

"As women, blacks, the handicapped, and many others who have been deprived of equal treatment in the past can attest, getting society to recognize the errors of the status quo is a long, hard struggle which continues to this day," Golinkin writes. "But if history shows one thing, it is that these groups will prevail. The question is not if… but when… and how."

So there's yet another reason for the GOP to jump on the same-sex marriage bandwagon: history is going to show that those who opposed equal rights for gays and lesbians were abominable. And nobody wants to wear that label on their reputation.

Nate Silver -- the progressive and utterly delicious pollster -- confirms this. Sure, gay marriage lost this past week in New York, and yes, it also lost in Maine last month. But neither loss is a sign that same-sex marriage is slipping backwards.

Rather, opinion polls continue to show that more and more people support same-sex marriage with each passing day. It's moving slowly -- meaning that we won't be waking up tomorrow to find that two-thirds of the country now want same-sex marriage. But it's still moving in the right direction. And to quote that great 1980s Starship song, "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us."

Or better yet, let's just see what Silver has to say.

"I don't think there is any evidence of a national backlash against gay marriage. It should be borne in mind that gay marriage is still opposed by a small majority or large plurality of Americans," writes Silver. "But there's not really any evidence that the numbers are getting worse; instead, they appear to be v-e-r-y s-l-o-w-l-y getting better."

Which is why the news out of New York this week is only a temporary setback. It didn't feel good to lose, and there's likely all sorts of blame to pass around for why we got such a lopsided vote.

But don't miss the forest for the trees. As Golinkin writes, "Victories like the one earned by conservatives in New York... do little but delay the inevitable and give Democrats more ammunition to use as evidence that the Republican party is an intolerant, ignorant group of belligerent dinosaurs."

A GOP dominated by the anti-gay marriage crowd -- the Maggie Gallaghers, Mike Huckabees, Brian Browns, and Chris Christies of the world -- won't last. They might be doing sommersaults over victories now, but the history books will remember them for exactly what they were: dinosaurs.

(Photo courtesy of mjoneschange's photostream on Flickr.)