In last week’s Newsweek cover story, Ted Olson, the lead attorney in the landmark Perry v. Schwarzenegger case—Prop 8 trial—case, argued that marriage equality for gay and lesbian couples is an essentially conservative stance.
In the article, “The Conservative Case for Gay Marriage”, Olson noted, “…I have been overwhelmed by expressions of gratitude and good will from persons in all walks of life, including, I might add, from many conservatives and libertarians whose names might surprise.”
Whether or not Margaret Hoover was one of the names Olson referred to, she has expressed her support for Olson’s position on the pages of FoxNews.com.
Read there: FoxNews contributor argues for marriage equality [contd.]
Hoover, a FoxNews contributor, urges other Republicans to join her:
I encourage everyone, but especially Republicans, to consider Mr. Olsen’s arguments on the merits, both in his opening statement and throughout the trial’s ensuing three weeks. The plaintiff’s counsel seeks to convince Judge Vaughn R. Walker that the Supreme Court has already decided in Loving v. Virginia, Turner v. Safely, and in Lawrence v. Texas among others, that the right to marry is a fundamental right currently denied to an entire class of American citizens. This is unconstitutional.
We Republicans have often found ourselves on the wrong side of civil rights struggles since the 1960s, but there was a reason that Martin Luther King, Jr.'s father is said to have supported Republicans.
Republicans were historically the party ever-expanding freedom to disenfranchised minorities, from newly liberated slaves to giving women the right to vote. Susan B. Anthony was a Republican. By supporting the AFER trial we have an opportunity to establish our historic credibility on civil rights issues once again. But we should support marriage equality because it is the right thing to do.
Be sure to check out the comments to the post. The argument Olson and Hoover make doesn’t make it through to the folks who appear to believe “conservative” means “Christian soldier” and that only a narrow interpretation of biblical passages should matter in a US court rather than the constitution.
Last modified: 16 Jan 10 10:10
prop-8-trial