he s the author of the two most important gay rights rulings in the court s history, for whatever reason isn t ready to go there. rob reiner, how important has hollywood been? has hollywood played the same role on same-sex marriage that baseball basically played on integration when they were essentially a decade ahead of the country s politicians on civil rights? all in the family did the first ever show featuring a homosexual character. i don t know about whether or not hollywood has played a role or not, but, you know, here is the thing. we re talking about a civil right. i mean, to talk about, you know, polls and public opinion when it comes to civil rights, you know, where was the public? like you said in loving vs. virginia are where was the public and our founding fathers when they said slavery was okay or women weren t allowed to vote? these are civil rights issues and there is one group of people
featuring a homosexual character. i don t know about whether or not hollywood has played a role or not, but, you know, here is the thing. we re talking about a civil right. i mean, to talk about, you know, polls and public opinion when it comes to civil rights, you know, where was the public? like you said in loving vs. virginia. where was the public, our founding fathers, when they said slavery was okay, or women weren t allowed to vote? these are civil rights issues and there is one group of people in this country that is not regarded equal under the law. and until we have everyone, all of our citizens, regarded equal under the law, we re not realizing the precepts of our country. so this debate, i agree with pete williams. i think the supreme court was scared to take this on, but the fact of the matter is, it has been taken on, and there will be gay marriage in this country without
one lesson of the two cases back to back is that the court really did seem very reluctant to get involved in the california decision in the california proposition 8 matter, that the the that at least for the time being, they were inclined to let states decide same-sex marriage on their own. that they were certainly not ready to impose a 50-state solution in the way that there was a 50-state solution to stopping racial intermarriage in 1967 in the case of loving vs. virginia. leaving it up to the states, good for doma if you support same-sex marriage. not so good on proposition 8. everyone trying to predict what they will do until they rule. end of june. thank you, jeffrey toobin. a woman loses her camera on vacation six years ago. just turned up on a beach 6,000 miles away.
one? one of the cases, the case of loving vs. virginia about interracial marriage, the freedom to marry is important to all people. what gay people are seeking here is the same freedom to marry as other loving and committed couples share in, and they are saying, we re saying that there is no good reason for excluding gay couples from the freedom to marry. in the excerpts you plays in the court. justice kagan and others asked questions, and the attorneys on the anti gay side were unable to come up with a good reason and that s exactly what court after court and now state after state have found. eric, that s a great point that evan brings up, is that those who are in support of proposition 8 and against marriage equality have found themselves painted into the weird corner where they have to make the case where gay people getting married is somehow
open the door a little wider. we were debating marriage equality in new york. there were a lot of arguments about its effect on religious institutions it it doesn t create problems for religious institutions or opposite sex marriages. they were down to this argument that the state has an interest in pro creation that somehow we ll be damaged. that argument, literally laughter in the court during that part of the argument. we re at the point where neither this case or if they do duck it and just uphold the law in california. allow california to go forward with same-sex marriage and not provide a greater ruling, the loving vs. virginia moment is coming. the other side is out of arguments. i want to follow on that if as jonathan suggests there is an off-ramp that the supreme court takes what does that do to momentum in terms of marriage equality? the gay rights community? is that seen as defeat, stoke the fire, what s your read? look, every delay, every day that couples are denied the