The rapidity with which marriage equality has been gaining legal and public-opinion approval, has been surprising. But it has long been clear that marriage equality was going to win eventually, just because of the demographics. It's biggest opponents, people in my age group, are going to die off (or quit voting because they no longer have Repuplican-required photo IDs).
New Mexico, on Thursday, became the 17th state, along with the District of Columbia, in which same-sex marriages are legal, because of a unanimous ruling by the State Supreme Court. One of the signs of the changing times is that the Republican governor, although on record as opposing same-sex marriage, apparently distanced herself from the legal battle and hasn't commented on the ruling, according to the NY Times this morning. That is similar to how Chris Christie played it in New Jersey.
And then the following day, a Federal District Judge in Utah ruled that Utah's 2004 voter-passed ban on marriage equality was unconstitutional because it denied same-sex couples equal protection under the 14th Amendment.
I particularly love this Utah ruling because of the slap in the face it gives to those people who still like to trot out the argument that this is an issue that needs to be put to a vote of the people, that a judicial decision is somehow less valid. Screw that! Since when do the people get to vote on matters of Civil Rights? What I have read so far gives no indication of how the state of Utah will respond, and what will be the status of the same-sex plaintiffs if the state decides to appeal.
But for now, I'm going to go ahead and count Utah as the 18th fallen domino, and await the outcome of the many similar lawsuits that are pending across the country. All of the pathetic arguments against marriage equality are being shot down one by one, and it is going to be very difficult for judges in other states to ignore the rulings that are accumulating.
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