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The Next State to Drop
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Gay marriage may soon be recognized in two American states: Massachusetts and…. Can you guess? No, I’m not thinking of California, although mayor Gavin Newsom’s defiance of the law could easily bring court imposed gay marriage there. Nor am I thinking of New Jersey, although a Goodridge copycat case is working its way through the liberal New Jersey courts. Surprisingly, New Mexico could be the next state to recognize gay marriage. I’ll explain why in a moment. First let’s trace the big picture. THE ROAD TO NATIONALIZATION The media is doing it’s best to paint the emerging gay-marriage debate as a political ploy by the president. The reality of the situation will shortly overwhelm that claim. We are having this debate because gay-marriage advocates wanted us to. Eight years ago, the people of Hawaii passed a state constitutional amendment to prevent their courts from legalizing gay marriage. After that, gay-marriage advocates systematically targeted liberal courts in states where constitutional amendments are difficult to pass. Vermont resulted. In Massachusetts, another state with liberal courts and a cumbersome amendment process, the intent was to insist on full gay marriage, rather than civil unions. Advocates understood that with only a single state to generate legal gay marriages, the path to nationalization would be open. |
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