Many GOP politicians waving white flag on gay marriage — how about in Arkansas? | Arkansas Blog

Arkansas Blog

Archives | RSS

Tuesday, October 7, 2014

Human rights Many GOP politicians waving white flag on gay marriage — how about in Arkansas?

Posted By on Tue, Oct 7, 2014 at 8:10 AM

click to enlarge THE TIMES THEY ARE A CHANGIN: The Washington Post charts support for gay marriage over the last decade. - VIA WASHINGTON POST
  • Via Washington Post
  • THE TIMES THEY ARE A CHANGIN: The Washington Post charts support for gay marriage over the last decade.


Lots of national reporters are noting that Republican governors and senators are by and large reacting with a shrug to the Supreme Court's decision not to hear appeals from give states where lower courts had struck down bans on same-sex marriages. 

The Hill notes that Rep. Tom Cotton's campaign did not put out a statement and did not reply to requests for comment (of course Sen. Mark Pryor is mum too). 

The Washington Post's Chris Cillizza says it's all over but the grandstanding: 

The Supreme Court's refusal to take up challenges to laws legalizing gay marriage in five states has an immediate impact: Gay couples in those states can now wed. But it has a longer-term impact too; it's another piece of evidence that the fight over gay marriage is effectively over in this country.

The Post has lots of charts like the one above showing what appears to be an inexorable trend. More from Cillizza: 

Now, all of these charts make a very clear political argument: The country is rapidly growing more accepting of gay marriage and it seems — given the generational and inter-generational changes in the numbers — very unlikely that that trend will reverse itself. That's a simple political fact that Republican strategists have been trying to drill into the heads of their candidates in recent years; spending significant (or really, any) time talking about opposition to same-sex marriage is a straight political loser with virtually all voters not in the social conservative wing of the GOP base. (Sidebar: That's an amazing transformation in the politics of gay marriage; a decade ago, George W. Bush's reelection victory was credited in no small part to a number of ballot initiatives banning gay marriage on the ballot in key swing states. In 2004, 60 percent of Americans opposed gay marriage while 31 percent supported it, according to Pew.)

Of course, that long of arc of history bends toward justice slowly, and even if the fight over gay marriage is "effectively over," there's still more fighting to do. As the Human Rights Campaign's Arkansas Director Kendra Johnson put it yesterday in a press release, “Any time same-sex couples are extended marriage equality is something to celebrate, and today is a joyous day for thousands across America who will immediately feel the impact of today’s Supreme Court action. But this news is an unfortunate reminder that LGBT Arkansans still lack basic legal protections against discrimination, and cannot legally marry the person they love in the place they call home.”

I'll be curious to see if Cotton ends up commenting one way or the other. Hutchinson too, though I can already imagine the procedural hedging and wishy-washy flopping sure to come from Ol' Finger To The Wind Hutch. And, too, what about Pryor and Mike Ross? On the more local level, we know what Sen. Jason Rapert thinks about judges who would dare to overturn the ban, and we know that Rep. Justin Harris believes that he'll be proud to tell his grandparents that Arkansas was a leader in the nation (at being retrograde). His grandkids might not be so proud of him based on the trends, but we'll see. There will always be holdouts, standing athwart history yelling stop, even if history may not judge them kindly. 

Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

Conservative hacks respond to Bill Clinton's Arkansas visit by being conservative hacks
Mike Ross and Asa Hutchinson to debate in Little Rock tonight

Instapaper
Favorite
Share
Comments (11)
Email

Comments (11)

Showing 1-11 of 11

Add a comment

 
Subscribe to this thread:
By Email
With RSS
Showing 1-11 of 11

Add a comment

More by David Ramsey

Readers also liked…

  • Among the last words from Kenneth Williams: 'Finger Lickin' Good Fried Chicken'

    What's purported to be a final-words essay from condemned prisoner Kenneth Williams was distributed today by Deborah Robinson, a freelance journalist in Arkansas.  He reflects on his execution, his victims, reactions of inmates and big servings of fried chicken, which he says are given to all inmates on execution days.
    • by Max Brantley
    • Apr 27, 2017

  • The LR chamber does the public's business. Is it accountable? Blue Hog on the case.

    Matt Campbell, lawyer and Blue Hog Report blogger, has sent a Freedom of Information Act request to Jay Chessir, director of the Little Rock Regional Chamber of Commerce, and Mayor Mark Stodola related to the publicity stunt yesterday  built around withdrawing from the mayor's rash pronouncement that the city would seek an Amazon HQ2 project even though the city  didn't meet the company's criteria.
    • by Max Brantley
    • Oct 20, 2017

  • Presidential thriller, co-author Bill Clinton, coming to bookstores in 2018

    June 2018 is the expected publication date for a novel collaboration by former President Bill Clinton and crime writer James Patterson.
    • by Max Brantley
    • May 9, 2017

Slideshows

  • Arkansas vs Ole Miss at War Memorial stadium in Little Rock, Saturday, Oct. 13, 2018. After leading for much of the game, Arkansas lost 37-33 when Ole Miss scored the game winning Touchdown with less that 2 minutes left. 
    Arkansas vs Ole Miss
    Arkansas vs Ole Miss at War Memorial stadium in Little Rock, Saturday, Oct. 13, 2018. After leading for much of the game, Arkansas lost 37-33 when Ole Miss scored the game winning Touchdown with less that 2 minutes left. 
  • Margaret Clark Adventure Park<br> <b style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: none; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; text-align: center;">New sculptures, preschoolers play area dedicated in Riverfront Park in Little Rock. </b>
    Margaret Clark Adventure Park
    Margaret Clark Adventure Park
    New sculptures, preschoolers play area dedicated in Riverfront Park in Little Rock.

Site Index

News

Cover Story / Arkansas Reporter / The Week That Was / The Observer / Editorial / Max Brantley / Ernest Dumas / Gene Lyons / Jay Barth / Words / Guest Writer / Letters

Entertainment

A&E Feature / To-Do List / In Brief / Movie Reviews / Music Reviews / Theater Reviews / A&E News / Art Notes / Media / Dining Reviews / Dining Guide / Calendar / Gallery Listings

RT @KATVZack: National Survey of Children's Health -- Arkansas youth ranked 20th in percentage of obese youth ages 10-17. Local health expe…
KATV News

RT @UCA_Football: https://t.co/5nipYvZzXv
Fox16 News

Standard Lithium Ltd. finds "robust" amounts of lithium in samples from the Smackover Formation: https://t.co/opB71J93rd
Arkansas Business

Negotiators for LR School District and LR Education Association reach contract settlement that was quickly finalize… https://t.co/IAusFVfrrd
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

Secretary of Defense Checks on Troops at the Border https://t.co/IB1b6UWvEu #ARNews https://t.co/2edFYdd45a
KARK4News

More Headlines...

Most Recent Comments

This Week's Cover

Cover of this issue of The Arkansas Times

Quick Links

  • El Latino
  • Best Lawyers
  • UALR Public Radio
  • Fox 16 News
  • Savvy

Special Publications

Cover
 

© 2018 Arkansas Times | 201 East Markham, Suite 200, Little Rock, AR 72201
Powered by Foundation