The Republican Case For Marriage Equality

Tom Campbell, a Republican and former five-term U.S. Congressman, makes the case:

Republicans believe deeply that government should be limited. Government has no business making distinctions between people based on their personal lives. That's why, as a Californian and a Republican who has held elective office at the federal and state levels, I will be voting No on Proposition 8.

Same-sex couples already exist, so do different-sex couples. Californians in these relationships are our firefighters, nurses, police officers, and small business owners. They pay taxes and contribute to our economy and our society. Californians come in different shapes and sizes; that's what's made our state great. If two people want to make their relationship more stable, and commit more deeply to each other, that can only be good for California. That's true whether the couple is gay or straight.

My first argument for marriage equality followed very similar logical lines. It appeared almost twenty years ago in The New Republic and is reprinted here by the Independent Gay Forum.