Patterico: No On 8

One the most conservative voices in the blogosphere takes a stand:

I am angry about the California Supreme Court’s attempt to take this matter out of voters’ hands, and part of me wants to support the measure just to flip the bird to the justices. Ultimately, however, I support the right of homosexuals to marry one another, and so I will be voting no...

The downside of banning gay marriage is that homosexuals are made to feel that they are second-class citizens.

I don’t know whether being gay is genetic, a learned behavior, or some combination of the two but I am confident that it is something that people do not consciously choose. I certainly did not consciously choose to be sexually attracted to women; that is hard-wired into me somehow. I can’t imagine it’s different for gay men.

 

Since gays do not consciously choose their sexual orientation, refusing to give them access to an institution available to heterosexuals is discrimination. The policy question is whether this discrimination is justified on a societal level.

My conclusion is that it is not.

     

One day, most conservatives will take this position, I believe. But it takes courage to do so now.