Ted Olson explains how a conservative Republican lawyer can not only be for gay marriage, but the lead the case for it. It's a civil rights issue. Period.
Isn't hindsight always 20/20? This weekend Cole and I were talking about standing up for what we believe in. It's something that you theoretically want to be able to do all the time, but more difficult to put into practice. Case in point: it's Saturday evening, we're in Calistoga (a small town in Napa, true, but also just 75 miles from San Francisco) at our hotel, soaking in the naturally-heated mineral spa, and two older couples get in. One couple is from a nearby rural town; the husband finds it necessary to keep pointing out the moon for some reason, and the wife has entered the hot tub in a heinously floral one-piece, still wearing all of her gold jewelry. The other couple is a super liberal, hippie duo from Berkeley (exhibiting unshaven pits and all).
After a few minutes of small talk, the gold-chain-wearing woman tells me that I "just look SO MUCH like Sigourney Weaver!" and "You must get that all the time!" My displeasure must have shown on my face because her husband quickly interjected, "Well, a much younger version of her, of course." I smiled and left the spa for the sauna. I DON'T like being compared to Weaver; the more it happens, the more it annoys me.* Even though she was awesome in Ghostbusters.
Anyway, I digress. But not that much. Cole came to the sauna with me and when I left to go back to our room, she went back to the spa. That girl just loves to soak in warm water. By this time, the two couples in the spa had moved from discussing Sigourney Weaver's red carpet attire to a much more volatile subject (and possibly one unfit for what is supposed to be a relaxing spa): politics. From what Cole said, they were debating various issues and finally the jewelry monger declared disapprovingly, "The world is just getting so crazy. All this talk of legalizing pot and gay marriage!"
Cole came back to our room asking me if she should have said something to this lady. Something like, "Hey, that was my wife here earlier, we consider ourselves to be married, why is that such a problem for you?" Because in our experience, once a person knows someone who's gay, it's easier to have an open mind about these issues. And harder for even a conservative Republican to apply a discriminatory attitude to a person right in front of her.
In hindsight, I would have directed this woman to Olson's Newsweek article. I doubt she would have been able to effectively argue against a smart Republican lawyer standing up for civil rights.
Or would I have really? Is it wrong to want to just enjoy your vacation without debating politics in the hot tub?
*Minor edit: If someone wants to compare me to S.W. in this movie, I'm okay with it. Love the dress and her stubby ponytail.
