Legal Commentary

Is the current phase of the same-sex marriage movement over?  More specifically, have advocates for marriage equality lost this round?

I worry that the answer might be yes.  California's Prop 8 is a major blow to the marriage equality movement.  Of course, the California Supreme Court still has to rule on the legality of Prop 8, and my sense is that the court could conceivably invalidate it.

But Prop 8 is not really an aberration.  By my count, at least forty-five states have some kind of law banning same-sex marriage (see here).  Some of these laws can--and I think will--be overturned or repealed.  But most of them will remain on the books for the foreseeable future.

So what's next?  Is it time for the marriage equality movement to regroup and reconsider its strategies?

In the meantime, here's hoping for a victory in Iowa.