Pretty devisive issue this one and I doubt Bush would have given it more than vague lip service if activists hadn't pushed the issue. So now that it's coming to a head, was it wise for the activists to stir the pot? Just a few weeks ago my answer would have been a strong no. With the clear majority of Americans opposed to equal rights for gays, forcing the issue appeared to me a recipe for codifying the denial of a basic human right in our constitution. My gay friends, keep your heads down or they'll get shot off. Though I'm still worried, now I'm not so sure. Here's why: 1. Although I haven't seen an analysis, my best guess is that the Bush proposed amendment (wow - what a legacy) will fail. It's just too hard to get an amendment passed and the only one that was remotely similar (curtailing individual rights) was prohibition. Not a good track record. Congress - probably. 3/4 of the states - I bet not. And the very process of the amendment failing will support the notion that marriage is a right for gay as well as hetero couples. 2. I just have to believe that as Americans are forced to reflect on this issue, the proportion opposed to gay marriage will fall. A constitutional amendment takes years to pass and that's a long time for people to reconsider the consequences this denial of a basic human right has. Even Migator changed his mind. Sure, many folks see how happy those San Francisco couples are to exercise a right the rest of us take for granted and still feel only revulsion, but surely this stirs in others that long dormant empathy gene that enables us to wish well for people even though they're not "like us". We may be in the minority now, but I just have faith in humanity that that won't be true much longer now that Americans are forced to confront this topic head on. So to my social conservative friends (pardon the label), join us. The time is fast approaching when we will look back on those who stood in the way of gay marriage the same way we now do those who spat upon black children who tried to enter our schools. Sorry for the hyperbole. I couldn't resist.