California conservatives should co-opt the recent Supreme Court decision, embrace the importance of marriage as a unifying and positive institution in America, and propose a strong pro-marriage, pro-family agenda.

The California Supreme Court’s decision in In re Marriage Cases, which concluded that the California Constitution required recognition of same-sex marriages, reverberated around the country.  Across the nation liberals rejoiced as conservatives bemoaned the ruling. Its effects, however, hold far more promise for conservatives than their progressive counterparts.

Was the Court’s decision unwarranted judicial activism and social tinkering?  Probably not.  The California Constitution has always been construed as more protective than the US Constitution.  While social engineering is better left to the Legislature and the People, the mostly Republican-appointed Court was not clearly outside the bounds of its jurisprudence.  Indeed the Court’s recognition of the importance of marriage as an institution is a conservative refrain.

While Senator McCain and the GOP nationally are well served politically by assailing the decision, California conservatives would be wise to embrace the decision, and co-opt the issue for their own.  The Supreme Court largely missed the importance of marriage as the most favorable forum for productive childrearing, lost as it was in the mysteries of love and procreation, neither of which are necessarily aided by the legal bond.

But California conservatives need not ignore the truly important functions served by marriage.  Conservatives are faced with a choice: rally around a voter initiative to amend the Constitution and reverse the Court’s opinion, or embrace same-sex marriages and work for a pro-family agenda which recognizes the importance of all productive marriages.

There is relatively little evidence that same-sex marriages threaten traditional marriages.  The Netherlands example, where post-legalization declines in traditional marriage followed legalization of same-sex unions, is just as likely caused by that nation’s and Europe’s generally libertine decay in a shared culture and pro-family mores.  While the data is not yet clear on the effects of same-sex marriage, many other facts are clear. No-fault divorce, destructive and wrong-headed family and support laws, and the degradation of social mores valuing human life and strong families have all been far more pernicious to the family structure.  It is here that blue state conservatives can make a difference.

While many gay rights’ advocates have conceded their interest lies not in securing marriage, but only in the recognition of the right to it, there is no reason to believe that those same-sex couples who do marry are any less interested in raising productive, contributing families.  Same-sex married couples are no less interested in safe communities for their children, good schools, or economic security.  In fact, given a stake in them, they have more reason to support those goals.  Here, conservatives have their real chance at both blue state political success and strong pro-family policies.

California conservatives should co-opt the Court’s decision, embrace the importance of marriage as a unifying and positive institution in America, and propose a strong pro-marriage, pro-family agenda.  A good start would be tax breaks for married couples, and reform of the divorce and child support laws to place value on marriage and the protection and support of productive child-rearing.  Other goals abound to which same-sex couples ought to have no objection. For one: school choice.  Are gay couples any more likely to want their children educated in a decaying and wholly ineffective public school monopoly?  Two: increased parental rights including not only school choice, but parental notification laws.  Is there some reason why a gay couple would find it acceptable to have their daughter subjected to a brutal and harmful procedure without their input or guidance?  Three: safe communities and crime reduction.  There is no reason why the gay community benefits from a rising tide of crime in California cities like Oakland, Sacramento, and Fresno. The desire to keep one’s family safe is universal.

Indeed, same-sex parents, confronted for the first time with the results of failed liberal policies on families and marriages, may find themselves at odds with long-time political associations.  Most importantly, conservatives could drive the debate away from the divisive Balkanizing politics of the Left — which puts everyone in a box labeled by their race, gender, and orientation — to a more beneficial dynamic in which people embrace their interests and ignore the bloc voting which has for too long empowered the Left.

This strategy is concededly not yet a Bible-belt or Midwest tactic. However, in the future it may well be.  Polls suggest majorities of young people ambivalent or supportive of same-sex marriage.  Polling from the last several national elections also suggests waning support for abortion, and a higher percentage of young voters are pro-life than ever before. Advancing only an attack on the gay lifestyle which ignores the shared interests of many if not most same-sex couples in lower taxes, greater growth, safer communities, and strong families will spell defeat. For blue state conservatives, the goal should be to advance a pro-family agenda which includes same-sex marriages and focuses on strong pro-marriage policies.