Bill Safire identifies himself as a "lib-con," which is probably about as close to SWLiP's political stance as any major pundit out there.
In his column of today, he takes on the difficult question of gay marriage. He seems to have put his finger on the conundrum faced by lib-cons:
The conservative in me wonders: if equal rights can be assured by civil union, why are some gays pushing so hard for the word "marriage"?The answer is that the ancient word conveys a powerful message. Civil union connotes toleration of homosexuality, with its attendant recognition of an individual's civil rights; but marriage connotes society's full approval of homosexuality, with previous moral judgment reversed.
The pace of profound cultural change is too important to be left to activist judges. As moral-political issues go, this big one deserves examination in communities with minds that can deal with internal contradictions — which is the libcon way.
This seems fair to me. Many people who support equal rights for gays can't help but cringe at the term "same-sex-marriage," despite the best of intentions. State legislatures need to do the important work of crafting civil union laws, before the courts impose a solution upon them.
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