Gay Activists Have Damaged Their Own Cause

US News has an article describing the dangers of trying to enact an agenda via lawsuits rather than by pursuading your fellow citizens that your cause is worthy of their support:

For advocates of same-sex marriage, the outlook is dark, that early enthusiasm tempered by a wave of anti-gay-marriage voter initiatives and a string of courtroom losses. And more court decisions and initiatives expected this year could result in devastating setbacks. "We may face a reality by the end of this year that is so radically different ... that we may have to completely rethink and rework how we're going to move forward," says Ed Murray, a gay Washington State representative. Jordan Lorence of the conservative Alliance Defense Fund is more blunt: "One side is clearly prevailing, and one is losing."

The losses may have been self-inflicted. Despite some early recognition of gay couples' legal rights in Hawaii and Vermont courts, the Massachusetts case seemed to spark a torrent of voter hostility. Today, 44 states have laws restricting marriage to a man and a woman, and voters have written gay-marriage bans into the constitutions of 19 states--16 since 2003. ...

Some activists are putting more emphasis on backing gay-friendly candidates in local and state races and winning more legal rights--but not necessarily marriage--in the legislatures. A group of nearly 250 gay-rights supporters recently urged less focus on marriage, saying it "has left us isolated and vulnerable to a virulent backlash." Legislative victories could avoid that backlash. "The politics is driven by the lawsuits," says Matt Daniels of Alliance for Marriage, which opposes gay marriage. "No more lawsuits, no more state amendments." Matt Foreman of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force acknowledges, "Our legal strategies got ahead of our political strategies."

The legalization via lawsuit of gay marriage in Massachusetts really backfired on the gay activists. States all across the country began enacting legislation to ban gay marriage in their states, or at the very least mandate that their state did not need to recognize a gay marriage from another state. In addition, many gay marriage measures ended up on ballots during key elections, thus driving up voter turnout from people opposed to gay marriage and thus hurting liberal causes and candidates.

It took the gay activists awhile to figure it all out and see that the results of their legal efforts were an ever-growing list of losses both in court and at the ballot box. The question now is can they pursuade Americans to support their cause without trying to beat them over the head in a court battle? I doubt it, at least at this point in history.