Next Up on the Gay Agenda

Joe Biden made news the other day when he said that gay marriage was an "inevitability."  Then, in a (somewhat fawning) interview with The Advocate, Obama said that he is "wrestling" with the issue of gay marriage (he was for it before he was against it before he was "wrestling").

Translation: "Okay, gays, I ended DADT.  I also ended the HIV travel ban, extended partner benefits for federal employees, and extended hospital visitation rights.  I've done my part for term one.  Help me get a second term - and while you're at it, help me reclaim the House as well - and we'll see what we can do on DOMA and ENDA."

Personally, I see ENDA - a federal ban on employment discrimination against gays - as the bigger priority.  But even if we can only get one of the two accomplished over the next six years, it's a fair deal.

Incidentally - what will be Obama's stance on DOMA when he finishes his "wrestling" and comes to his senses?  Will it be merely repeal?  That should be enough to require all states to recognize gay marriages from other states, if my understanding of the Full Faith and Credit Clause is correct.  But might Obama push for a federal law requiring all states to recognize gay marriage?

I would guess that such a law would arguably be constitutional, under the enormously broad ambit of the Commerce Clause.  But the reach of that clause has been whittled down over the past decade or so - and rightly so, I believe; whether it would support a federal law on this matter is more questionable today than it would have been not too long ago.  The more decisive question, I think, is whether a second-term Obama administration would be willing to expend the political capital necessary to pass a measure that would assuredly meet with outraged opposition.  My guess on that would be no.

But no matter; repeal alone - if it would, as I suspect, require Utah to recognize gay marriages from Massachusetts - would be enough.

Onward and upward!