Prop 8 lawyer’s views on gay marriage evolving

[DonViejo]

Source: ASSOCIATED PRESS


JULIE PACE, ASSOCIATED PRESS

WASHINGTON (AP) — The lawyer who argued before the Supreme Court in favor of upholding California’s ban on gay marriage learned while he was handling the case that one of his children is gay and now is helping her plan her wedding with another woman.

Attorney Charles Cooper says his view of same-sex marriage is evolving after having argued in court that gay unions could undermine marriages between a man and a woman.

The revelation is an unexpected footnote in the years-long debate over Proposition 8, the California measure struck down by the Supreme Court last year. It is also offers a glimpse, through the eyes of one family, of the country’s rapidly shifting opinions of gay marriage, with most public polls now showing majorities in favor of allowing the unions.

Cooper learned that his stepdaughter Ashley was gay as the Proposition 8 case wound its way through appellate court, according to a forthcoming book about the lengthy legal battle. And with the Supreme Court ruling now behind him, Cooper cast his personal opinion on gay marriage as an evolving process.



Read more: http://www.salon.com/2014/04/17/prop_8_lawyers_views_on_gay_marriage_evolving/

[closeupready]

1. Right, because it's okay to help subjugate children of OTHER people,

but not your own.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

2. I don't understand why some people can't seem to "evolve"

unless and until they find out a family member is gay. Why is it so hard to imagine what people who aren't related to you are having to go through? Or are your family members the only people who matter? I'm glad this guy is changing his mind, but it's kind of pathetic that he couldn't do it until he found out his own daughter is gay.

[wryter2000]

3. It's this way with every issue

RWers completely lack the ability to put themselves in someone else's shoes. They even scoff at the concept of empathy. It would be impossible for them to support things like the Ryan budget if they could honestly care about people they don't know personally.

[Orsino]

10. Not just RWers.

Anyone paid to espouse a particular point of view may have different personal beliefs. "Evolving" may occur, but that term is often just a cover for hypocrisy.

[MicaelS]

4. All politics is local (personal).

A great Democrat said that - Tip O'Neil. And yes, for many people family comes first, ahead of everyone, and everything else.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_politics_is_local

The phrase, "All politics is local" is a common phrase in U.S. politics. The former Speaker of the U.S. House Tip O'Neill coined this phrase, which encapsulates the principle that a politician's success is directly tied to his ability to understand and influence the issues of his constituents. Politicians must appeal to the simple, mundane and everyday concerns of those who elect them into office. Those personal issues, rather than big and intangible ideas, are often what voters care most about, according to this principle. Politicians often use this against one another, as well, to hit each other where it hurts most—back at home—rather than on the floor of Congress. The concept is contrary to the notion that most people, somehow, in local elections are casting votes to "send a message" to the highest levels; instead, the principle predicts that most people will not decide who to vote for in local elections simply as a means to act on feelings about national politicians, such as concerns about a current U.S. President, but that they make decisions based on how they feel local interests are being addressed. The prediction is that most people who vote, or debate issues, are focused on resolving their local issues.

[cosmicone]

5. I wouldn't be too harsh on this guy

Most people only give a perfunctory look to issues until it hits home.

I'm sure you don't know anything about Henoch–Schönlein syndrome. However, you'd know everything about it if one of your children developed it and you'd spend hours on the web and in a library researching it.

I'm glad he has evolved and it is brave of him to admit it publicly.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

6. It's true that I don't know anything about

Henoch–Schönlein syndrome - but that's too narrow a view. Even though I don't have a child with Henoch–Schönlein syndrome, or Cornelia-DeLange syndrome, or Tay-Sachs disease or any other affliction, I can empathize with people who do have sick children. Most of us don't have to have a sick child to want all children to have access to health care, for example. We don't have to "evolve" toward wanting to help sick children only because we have one. That's the point - a lack of empathy. One should be able to imagine the difficulties of having a sick child who needs health care but can't get it without actually having a sick child; and one should be able to imagine what it's like to have a gay child who has been prohibited from getting married without actually having a gay child.

[dsc]

7. It is one thing to have no idea what a disease is

but quite another to literally fight a court case to keep people from having basic rights and then turn on a dime because your kid turns out to be one of those people.

[Armadotrasgo]

8. So screw him

he wasn't at the front of the line. Dumber than all of us. We don't want or need his support. Same goes for every politician that "evolved" as well. Bill Clinton first and foremost, the backward hick.

[olddad56]

12. so are you thinking that those of us who support gay marriage would be better off if ....

this guy hadn't had a gay child? I think that this is a good thing. What doe it buy you personally to be so bitter?

[davidpdx]

9. Who was the other Republican that "evolved" recently?

I know it was one of the heavy hitters.

[Doctor_J]

11. right wing hypocrite alert

These folks have no shame