Conservative California Newspaper Endorses Marriage Equality

From Andrew Sullivan and Joe.My.God comes the surprising news that the conservative newspaper of record in conservative Orange County, the Orange County Register has endorsed marriage equality:

Our preference would be for the government not to be involved in marriage, the most fundamental of institutions in a civil society. Why two people who want to be married should be required to get a license from the state is something of a mystery. Marriage existed long before the California or U.S. governments came into being and will continue long after they have been consigned to history. Whether a marriage is valid should be up to the people involved and the churches, synagogues, mosques or other religious institutions that choose to perform them or not.

As a practical matter, however, the government has so entwined itself into our daily lives that state recognition is important. Filing taxes as a married couple or as individuals makes a difference, as does the ability to own real estate, make end-of-life decisions or adopt children. Considering all this and the importance of equality before the law, the high court's decision was justified.

It is argued that allowing same-sex marriage will infringe on the religious freedom of people who have a religiously based objection to it. It is hard to see the validity. Church and state are correctly separate in this country, and the fact that the state recognizes a union as a marriage doesn't mean that a religious person or institution has to recognize it or approve of it. It's hard to imagine a minister, rabbi or imam who objects to same-sex marriages being forced to perform one, and we would be the first to object if anybody tried it.

Over time same-sex couples will find, as has been the case in Massachusetts, where such marriages have been legal for four years, (and as heterosexual couples know all too well) that marriage is not always easy. Married people disagree about all kinds of things, from money to recreational preferences, and have to find ways to work out their differences.

This is an interesting development, especially since in Sunday's Los Angeles Times conservatives Maggie Gallagher and Joshua Baker had a commentary entitled "Hate It/Love It" which summarized the Editorial Page reactions of major newspapers to the California Supreme Court ruling legalizing marriage equality on May 15th. Apparently of the 12 of the 20 largest newspapers in the United States that published an opinion on the matter, 7 opposed the ruling, 4 supported it (Los Angeles Times, New York Times, Boston Globe and San Francisco Chronicle) while 1 was unclear.