I have to admit, I've been a bit behind the curve on this gay marriage issue. Not that I am or have been against it, in principle. I've been divorced twice and never want to marry again, so when I first heard of the issue, my gut reaction was "I'm so over this marriage thing, why isn't everybody?".
And then there was Ohio. Ohio in 2004. Ooh, believe me - I took the name of the gay marriage folks in vain, because to my fault-finding little mind, if the issue of gay marriage had never been brought up, there never would have been an Ohio Issue 1, which brought out the entire evangelical right wing and (possibly, only possibly) cost John Kerry the election.
So not fair, you say, and you're absolutely right.
There may or may not have been differences that John Kerry would or would not have made in his presidency that could or could not have made crucial differences in our current economic life and foreign policy, but President Obama's difficulties along those lines are a cautionary tale. One election does not necessarily a difference make. Not even two.
So wishing another group would wait to work for something they believe in because it might delay action on something else is wishing the wind would stop blowing because it's messing up my hair. That same wind could be a breath of fresh air to someone else who sorely needs one.
Now, eight years later, the issue that (to my little mind) lost Ohio is a cause on the brink of cultural acceptance.
In the immortal words of mehitabel, toujours gai, toujours gai!