Where is the expansion of marriage going to stop?

Marriage Debate Far From Over

By Rachel Lu

Progressives keep telling us that the marriage debate is over. Some Republicans have joined the chorus. Mark McKinnon this week explained that,

Allowing committed gay couples to marry never has—and never will—lead to these sorts of things. Instead, the impact of gay marriage—legal now in 44 percent of the country—has been stronger families, less government and more freedom.
And this is what the Texas marriage case is all about: freedom and family. It’s about whether loving, committed gay couples can marry like my wife and I did and raise stable, loving families. It’s about equal protection under the law, the rationale used by the federal judge out of San Antonio earlier this year in correctly striking down our state ban on same-sex marriage.

Got that? There’s absolutely nothing left to discuss about this whole marriage thing. No legitimate questions. No valid concerns. Shut up and get in line.

Marriage reformers are probably wise to opt for strangling the opposition rather than rebutting. They know that their strength is in the short game. They know how to marshal impressionable masses into one big, happy, transgressive parade. But those moments are by their nature fleeting. In the long game it’s conservatives who really excel. We have more children, and we inculcate them into the ancient faiths and traditions of our forefathers. Liberals have a knack for generating momentum, but let’s face it: it’s still nice to be on the team that likes babies.

In order to win the day, then, the liberal “kumbaya” moment has to be dramatic enough to break the back of the opposition. Otherwise, the battle shifts to conservative ground and they may end up losing the war. That partially explains the desperation some feel to declare the issue settled.

It’s anything but settled. And stifling debate is a strategy with a limited shelf life, since social changes do raise questions that eventually have to be addressed. At this juncture, marriage supporters may do their best work just by pushing those questions to the fore, in such a way as to invite the as-yet-uncommitted to reflect on them more meaningfully. For some people, it is helpful to feel that they’ve been granted “permission” to wonder about these issues.

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