Penna Dexter
Jim Obergefell lost his race for the Ohio House of Representatives by 23 points.
He was the plaintiff in the landmark 2015 Obergefell v. Hodges case in which the US Supreme Court redefined marriage to include same-sex couples. Mr. Obergefell raised twice as much money as his opponent, pro-life and socially conservative incumbent, D. J. Swearingen. Most of Mr. Obergefell’s support came from outside his district. He was endorsed by the Human Rights Campaign, Pro-choice America, and a coalition of teachers’ unions. He campaigned on adding amendments to the Ohio state constitution to support abortion-on-demand and same-sex marriage and pledged his support for protecting “gender identity” in civil rights legislation on an equal par with race, sex, and religion.
The Supreme Court’s decision in Obergefell struck down all state laws protecting marriage as between one man and one woman. Perhaps Jim Obergefell’s role in destroying Ohio’s strong law protecting marriage was one reason he lost his race in a 61-38 percent blowout.
But same-sex marriage itself is no longer a potent political issue. Data from Gallup’s annual Values and Beliefs poll, conducted May 2-22, reveals that seventy-one percent of Americans say they support legal same-sex marriage.
Ohio is a state in which a candidate, like Jim Obergefell, who supports anything-goes, trans-affirming sex ed, and protecting the availability of explicit sexual material in schools and public libraries, cannot get elected.
Author Rod Dreher applauds political victories like this one in Ohio. But, he writes, “we’re entering the endgame of the struggle over gay rights and the meaning of homosexuality. Conservatives have been routed, both in court and increasingly in the court of public opinion.”
Rod Dreher continues: “The magnitude of the defeat suffered by moral traditionalists will become ever clearer as older Americans pass from the scene. Poll after poll shows that for the young, homosexuality is normal and gay marriage is no big deal — except of course if one opposes it.”
Which, increasingly, takes courage.
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Kerby Anderson