Leading From Behind

John Kasich digs in on opposing gay marriage:

Gov. John Kasich reaffirmed his position on gay marriage yesterday. He’s still against it.
Following an economic-development announcement at AmerisourceBergen in Lockbourne, Kasich said he supports Attorney General Mike DeWine’s appeal of an upcoming ruling by a federal judge that will require the state of Ohio to recognize same-sex marriages performed in other states and areas where it’s legal.
“He is going to appeal it; he should,” Kasich said in response to a reporter’s question. Kasich’s comments on the subject were his first since U.S. District Court Judge Timothy Black announced his intentions on Friday.
DeWine’s office says if Black rules as he said he would, DeWine will appeal his decision to the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and also seek an immediate stay to prevent the ruling from taking effect.
Black’s ruling is not expected to immediately affect Ohio’s ban on gay marriages inside the state.
“The people of the state, including me, voted years ago on a constitutional amendment to say that marriage is between a man and a woman,” Kasich said. “(Black) has overruled that in some respects, and that’s what a federal judge can do. But it doesn’t change the fact of how people voted.”

Will Republicans ask people to vote on the gay marriage ban again?  We're talking about an issue on which an extremely sizable percentage of the population has changed its mind in the last 10 years.  Besides the fact that Republicans are being damaged electorally by holding their ground on this, they are also on the wrong side of  history on a civil rights issue.  The longer the gay marriage ban hangs around, the longer Republicans' opposition to a civil right which WILL become the law of the land will fester among voters who have already accepted the right of gays to marry, specifically, voters who will be alive more than twenty years from now. Appealing the ruling leaves this fight in the courts until the Supreme Court strikes it down, which they will have to, or until another referendum overturns the ban.  The sensible thing to do would be to accept the ruling, which allows gay marriage in Ohio through marriage out-of-state, and begin the legislative process to bring a referendum to eliminate the ban.  This would be actual leadership on the part of the Republicans, instead of hiding behind an out-of-date popular measurement of bigotry.  A sizable percentage of the population which voted for the ban is now dead, while a sizable percentage of opponents to the ban weren't old enough to vote in 2004.  Again, Republicans can hide behind the decade-old vote and wait for the inevitable demographic changes to force the issue, but that isn't what leaders would do.