Gay Marriage Wave Shows Major Shift
In California, a federal appeals court struck down the state’s ban on same-sex marriage, declaring it unconstitutional.
In New Jersey, the state Senate passed a bill to legalize gay marriage, two years after a similar measure went down in defeat.
And on Monday Washington became the seventh state to legalize gay marriage when Gov. Chris Gregoire (D) signed it into law.
Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley (D) is pushing for gay marriage legislation, but he’s short a few votes and says the bill needs more Republican support.
In 2004, gay marriage bans were on the ballot in 11 states, helping drive social conservative turnout for President Bush. In those states, exit polls found that for a quarter of voters, “moral values” were the most important issue.
Now, eight years later, Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s campaign ad denouncing homosexuality was widely mocked and split his own advisers.
Gay marriage is still an issue in the GOP primary. Former Pennsylvania senator Rick Santorum has appeared at an anti-gay marriage rally in Washington. Romney has added a line about gay marriage to his stump speech. The gay conservative group GOProud was excluded from this year’s Conservative Political Action Conference.
