Silver lining on Washington State Supreme Court ruling against gay marriage

Procreation connection in limelight

In a divided 5 to 4 ruling, the Washington State Supreme Court refused to overturn this state's Defense Of Marriage Act. DOMA was passed by the legislature to define marriage as between a man and a woman, thus ruling out same sex marriages.

While I side with gay marriage, I am always looking for a silver lining.

A statement released with the majority opinion made a connection between marriage and procreation.

(excerpt) "legislature was entitled to believe that limiting marriage to opposite sex couples furthers procreation, essential to survival of the human race"

With overpopulation so evident in our fast growing state, this connection can also work the other way. Maybe, as part of the mix, we should encourage unions that don't necessarily lead to procreation.

Society's cultural norms are always evolving. Due to excess population growth, they need to evolve.

Rather than courts tossing out the law, based on legal or constitutional arguments, this ruling had strong wording about the legislature's ability to change the law. It almost sounded like many of the justices didn't agree with the law, but felt it was the legislature's, rather than the court's, role to change the law.

Now the ball goes back to the legislature. Also to the so called "court of public opinion."

Hopefully, public opinion is evolving.

From what I hear, the percentage of Americans opposed to gay marriage is declining. Still in the majority, but in decline.

Also, from what I hear (via KUOW's The Conversation show) Representative Ed Murray, from Seattle, is already working on measures to repeal DOMA in the legislature.

This may take years, but things are evolving.

It was 1977, when the bill that adds sexual orientation to Washington State's civil rights laws came before the legislature. That idea finally passed, last session.

The "gay rights" law even survived an attempt to overturn it by referendum. That referendum failed to gather enough signatures for the ballot. So far, in spite of this court ruling, 2006 has been a big year for LGBTA issues.

Public opinion can evolve, especially as our state evolves. Our state is turning increasingly "urban" all the time, as population keeps growing.