Change Knows No Bonds

Did Biden let his famously loose tongue run a bit too far? Was this announcement planned weeks ago? Was it a reaction to the passage of an amendment in North Carolina the night before? I don’t think anyone outside of Obama’s inner circle knows the whole truth. I know as little as anyone, but if I had to wager, I’d say this was coming the whole time. Maybe not quite like this, but in some form, sure enough. Let me get through a couple thoughts here.

First, I couldn’t be happier with Obama’s change, or, as he called it, his evolution. Personally, I am in strong favor of same sex marriage. I am a Christian, and I understand the sanctity of marriage. I am also a law student and an amateur historian, and so I am aware of legal implications and the legal nature of the institution of marriage. Marriage carries with it unique rights. It also has, for hundreds of years now, been primarily a vehicle for determining and classifying property rights. If you know what a dowry or an arranged marriage is, then you understand. If you don’t, then all that is required is to observe a divorce, the dividing of assets, and the determination of alimony. Marriage has many faces, but one is certainly about property and legal rights.

But more than those things, I am a human being who has been lucky enough to feel the elusive and indescribable magic of falling in love with another human being who also fell in love with me. I will not address the overwhelming scientific evidence supporting the proposition that homosexuality is just as authentic as heterosexuality. I will not address that because it cheapens, in such a grotesque manner, what is truly meaningful here. If it were up to me, I would dispense with the terms “heterosexuals” and “homosexuals” in a social context.

These are matters of the heart, this is what it means to be human. More than anything, this discussion is about love. We should celebrate love for another person, and end the discussion there.

Obama hinted that his evolution was caused, in part, by coming into contact with friends and colleagues who are gay, and that this experience changed his views. I suspect that many Americans have their views of same sex marriage changed in this way. But for me, this was not the case. I already leaned in favor of same sex marriage well before I grew to know a gay friend, and certainly my friendship with him only reaffirmed my inclination. I don’t believe this makes me special because I suspect that many people in my generation followed a similar path.

I support same sex marriage because I know – not believe – that people in same sex relationships choose their partners because they they love that person, and there really isn't much else worth considering. Love, it seems to me, is the best of things. And I’ll be damned if I give up my faith in love.

I couldn’t be prouder of this man who is our President, an office that often requires tip-toeing and self-compromise. His integrity and sincere thoughtfulness is as refreshing as a warm spring breeze after a hard winter.  A successful presidency requires courage, and this we know Obama has. But it does not necessarily require compassion and humility, and that is exactly what also filled his decision to support same sex marriage.

Before I get to my last thought, I want to note something about the politics of Obama’s support of same sex marriage.
This certainly wasn't a modification of policy in response to popular opinion. With the passage of the anti-same sex marriage amendment, North Carolina joined more than 30 states that already have similar amendments in their constitutions. It is clear that the majority of voters in many states are opposed to same sex marriage. And one more thing -- North Carolina is a swing state.

I don’t see this as a move to energize his base. We know from 2008 that Obama’s ability to inspire and rally his supporters is rare, even among politicians. And if the mounds of C4 that was the GOP primary didn’t light a fire under progressives, then I don’t know what will. No, I think this was Obama showing the bravery his possesses when he makes his mind up that he knows where the country should go even if it isn’t ready to go there. This is him opposing the Iraq War when everyone in both parties were supporting it and with the knowledge that he had plans to seek the presidency soon.

Obama’s announcement was him remembering what it feels like to be those things he talked about in 2008 – hope and change. I know people are jaded of that. Even Obama admitted that he probably underestimated how Washington (really, the disgustingly obstinate GOP) could rain on bright parades. But I think this was him saying, “Alright, this is what we should do. Maybe the nation is ready for it, and maybe it isn’t. Either way, it’s time to let the chips fall where they may.”

There is one last benchmark, which Obama pressed firmly into the stone and must be acknowledged.

Once again, the American Left has made a courageous and moral stand for civil rights. In the 20^th century, it is inarguable that the American Left did more to progress the cause of civil rights than any other political movement or group either in the United States or abroad. The list is staggering: equal rights for women seen in the the movements in the 20s and 30s, and later in the 50s and 60s; the opposition to an unjust war in Vietnam; and the Civil Rights movement. And now, a Democratic president becomes the first in the history of that office to openly support same sex marriage. Over the span of a century, the specter of chance or happenstance has passed. I will not compare and contrast. I will simply observe.

Jefferson wrote, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal …”