THE TIMES THEY ARE A CHANGIN'

Two highly visible politicians recently stated their support for marriage equality.

The first was Senator Rob Portman, a Republican from Ohio who was rumored to be on a shortlist of possible running mates with Mitt Romney during the 2012 Presidential Election. In an interview with CNN Portman stated his change due to his son telling his parents that he is gay back in 2011. Portman was previously a member of the US House and was a co-sponsor of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) back in 1996.

The announcement came before the annual CPAC convention that took place last weekend in National Harbor, Maryland. It appears that there is a split among conservatives regarding marriage equality. Though a recent ABC News-Washington Post poll shows Republicans supporting same-sex marriage at 34%, there is a split between Republicans currently holding office and former office holders. One of the biggest champions of Maryland's marriage equality measure in 2012 was former Vice-President Dick Cheney.

Yes, THAT Dick Cheney.

One the attorneys arguing in favor of overturning Prop 8 is Ted Olson. You may remember him as Bush's Solicitor General from June 2001 to July 2004 and argued for his client in the controversial Supreme Court decision Bush v. Gore (2000) that gave George W. Bush the state of Florida in the 2000 Presidential Election and thus the election. He also portrayed Vice-President Biden during Rep. Paul Ryan's debate preparation.

In a surprising twist, the other lawyer arguing for overturning Prop 8 case is David Boies who argued for Gore in the above mentioned Bush v. Gore (2000).

Talk about strange political bedfellows...

Late last month several Republicans signed on to filed amicus briefs urging the Supreme Court to overturn Proposition 8. One those briefs was stating the obvious that marriage equality will protect children. Some of the names associated with these marriage equality briefs are: Ken Mehlman, Steve Schmidt, Nicolle Wallace, Tom Ridge, Meg Whitman, Gary Johnson, David Stockman, Carlos Gutierrez, Christine Todd Whitman, and Clint Eastwood.

Here's something all these people have in common... a lot of these people are FORMER office holders. Having former office holders and visible persons (such as David Stockman who was in OBM during the Reagan administration and renounced Supply Side Economics) is great, but can any of them create and enact legislative policies that are beneficial to LGBT Persons?

(You can answer that question: it is no.)

Only TWO elected Republicans in Congress have signed on to these legal briefs stating their support for marriage equality: Representatives Ileana Ros-Lehtinen of Florida and Richard Hanna of New York. Total number of Republican Senators and Governors currently in office stating their support for marriage equality: ZERO.

It appears that the National GOP is recognizing that they have to get with the changing times if they are to be competitive in Presidential politics. The same can be said about other issues, but the topic right now is marriage equality and let's stick with that right now.

The beginning for the GOP to becoming a better party appears to be the issue of LGBT Rights. One of the telling signs of this shift was this picture at CPAC:

The image on the left is a discussion held by the National Organization for Marriage talking to a nearly empty room. The image on the right is pro-LGBT conservatives discussing how to advocate marriage for all in a room that was nearly standing room only.

I will believe that the GOP will have turned the corner on LGBT Rights when they start listening to the overall data shown in the opinion polls, not just to what their party thinks on the issue. In addition it would be helpful if they ceased aligning themselves with groups such as the misnamed National Organization for Marriage and more Republican legislators at all levels co-authored/co-signed pro-LGBT legislation and policies.

And then there was this interview with Speaker of The House John Boehner:

Yeah... I'm not holding my breath.

The other stated support for marriage equality came from Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in the above video from the Human Rights Campaign.

Clinton is rumored to be eying a 2016 Presidential run on the Democratic ticket. If she does run, not only is it likely that she will win her party's nomination but she could make history as the first woman elected President of the United States.

I have nothing against the Clintons. Her husband, former President Bill Clinton, was an effective executive in the 1990s and has shown to be one of our better post-presidency statesmen while Ms. Clinton has emerged as her own political person as a good Secretary of State during President Obama's first term. A lot of my Democratic connections are proclaiming that she must and will run in 2016. Me... I'm on the wait-and-see side before following everyone to the Hillary 2016 Bandwagon. I kind of want to see how the field materializes.

And it's too early to break the "2016 Elections" seal. One of the downers of American Politics: the never-ending campaign cycle.

And also I haven't heard these words come out of her mouth: "I'm Hillary Clinton, and I am running for President."

But Ms. Clinton's statement shows what a potential 2016 Democratic Presidential Primary could look like. Ten years ago if any Democrat said they were pro-marriage equality they were viewed as having no chance of winning a general election let alone the primary. Now it's a political advantage in Democratic politics. Governor John Hickenlooper signed Colorado's Civil Union bill, Governor Martin O'Malley campaigned for Maryland's marriage equality measure last cycle, and there was President Obama's interview with ABC News' Robin Roberts back in May 2012. Hickenlooper and O'Malley are seen as making a possible run at the White House in 2016. It will be next to impossible for a Democrat to run for President without having some form of LGBT Equality measure and/or statement on their political résumé.

Overall Clinton, Portman, and the various amicus briefs that have come out in support for marriage equality should be viewed as a pre-emptive strike. On this coming Tuesday and Wednesday the Supreme Court will be hearing two high profile marriage equality cases. Tuesday will be the Prop 8 Case, Hollingsworth v. Perry (12-144). Wednesday is the DOMA Case, United States v. Windsor (12-307). The decisions are expected to come out in June.... which is when there are a lot of LGBT Pride Parades... it was also the same month Loving v. Virginia (1967) was released.

The times are indeed a changin', and this is an exciting time to be a part of that.