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commentary
Beyond the Briefs
From foe to friend, Olson to champion gay rights
Published Thursday, 04-Jun-2009 in issue 1119
Can adding another attorney in support of same-sex marriage make a difference in the debate? Yes, if that attorney is former U.S. Solicitor General, Theodore Olson.
Olson, a Republican, served as attorney for former President George W. Bush in Bush v. Gore, and he has been an advocate in most anti-gay rights matters in the past. So it might seem odd that he, along with Attorney David Boies (opposing counsel in Bush v. Gore), has now challenged Proposition 8 in a federal district court. But Olson, while a staunch conservative in many matters, is in favor of same-sex marriage, and he and Boies bring a bipartisan credibility to the issue that a thousand liberal lawyers alone could not.
The match is in fact a carefully orchestrated one, designed to settle the matter without it having to go to the U.S. Supreme Court, which would have to override it because Proposition 8 is unconstitutional under the 14th Amendment.
President Obama knows this, but he also knows that the gains Democrats have made in the House are from swing districts that support Proposition 8. Those “Democrats” don’t want to cast votes in support of gay rights (save maybe a hate crimes bill), because if they did, in 2010, Republicans could re-gain the House (or at least a few Senate seats to filibuster Democratic votes).
This way, with the issue in a federal district court it can be settled if the parties agree to a course of action, such as stipulating that the federal government and all states, whether they have passed Defense of Marriage Acts or not, must treat same-sex families the same as opposite-sex families.
[W]ith [Prop. 8] in a federal district court … it can be settled if the parties agree to a course of action. Boies and Olson have refused to disclose who is funding their collaboration. But it’s a safe bet to speculate that certain Republicans, including, among others, former Vice President Dick Cheney, whose lesbian daughter and grandchild have him tickled pink and for whom Olson has worked as an attorney, along with former Florida Sen. Jeb Bush, want this issue resolved before the 2012 election.
Their reasons are various: Republican operatives such as Steve Schmidt, for example, who advises California Gov. Schwarzenegger, knows that exit polls in the last gubernatorial election showed he received close to 40 percent of the GLBT vote over his Democratic rival Phil Angelides (even though Angelides had pledged to sign a marriage-equality bill).More importantly, recent polls show Americans becoming more pro-life and, yes, pro-gay.
But it’s not just winning elections that concerns Republicans. As I predicted last year, a “backlash” against Proposition 8 is building. And it has many Republicans running for cover.
Doug Manchester, owner of San Diego’s Manchester Grand Hyatt Hotel, for instance, is feeling the heat after having contributed copiously to the “Yes on 8” campaign, motivating the GLBT and allies community to boycott the hotel. And the California Fair Political Practices Commission is investigating monies spent by the Mormon Church in support of the measure. It will revoke the tax-exempt status of churches that invested time and money to pass Proposition 8, charging them, in the process, with fraud for diverting funds from feeding the homeless to fattening political consultants. Further, schools such as Brigham Young University (and others who discriminate against GLBT students, married or not) know that it’s just a matter of time until they have to change policies or lose federal and state tax dollars and their tax exempt status.
So Olson is our friend, at least on the Proposition 8 issue. He gives Republicans an out – a way to backtrack on their no-longer popular views on same-sex marriage, and he gives Democrats a way to support gay rights without actually voting in favor of same-sex marriage.
John
says:
isn't it nice to know that "Democrats" don't back us in our quest for
EQUALITY.
Jun 05, 2009 11:31 AM
Boycott Supporter
says:
Doug Manchester was one of the leading funders ($125,000) of Proposition 8, a California ballot initiative that discriminates against LGBT couples. The California LGBT community faces an extremely difficult fight to prevent an outright ban on their civil right to have legal recognition for same sex couples and equal protection for their families. While Hyatt may officially disavow Manchester's contributions to Proposition 8 as a personal choice, the fact remains that their multi-million dollar LGBT marketing efforts must be seen as little more than sheer hypocrisy when the revenue this marketing attracts is then funneled into efforts that bite the hand which feeds them. In such a situation, we always have the ability to choose not to feed them any longer!!
Jun 05, 2009 2:59 PM
Myra
says:
What "backlash" against Prop 8? Seven out of ten Americans sided with Miss
Jun 07, 2009 1:30 AM
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