You know the LGBT movement is on the verge of total victory when former House Speaker, Newt Gingrich, says that conservatism must come to grips with the reality of marriage equality. Truth Wins Out had been very critical of Gingrich in 2012, even taking out a full-page ad in Roll Call blasting the former presidential candidate as a “spectacular hypocrite.”
Chris Geidner of BuzzFeed reports on Gingrich’s latest — and welcome — comments:
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said he can accept the “reality” of marriage between same-sex couples as a “legal document issued by the state” — as strong a sign as any that the landscape for marriage equality has changed dramatically in the past year.
“The momentum is clearly now in the direction in finding some way to … accommodate and deal with reality. And the reality is going to be that in a number of American states — and it will be more after 2014 — gay relationships will be legal, period,” Gingrich told The Huffington Post in a story published on Thursday.
Gingrich “continued to profess a belief that marriage is defined as being between a man and a woman,” Sam Stein and Jon Ward report, but “suggested that the party (and he himself) could accept a distinction between a ‘marriage in a church from a legal document issued by the state’ — the latter being acceptable.”
Of the change, though, Gingrich said, “I think that this will be much more difficult than immigration for conservatism to come to grips with.”
Before social conservatives can “come to grips” they first need to “get a grip,” which might take some time. Still, Gingrich’s words are a wake-up call and will certainly take the wind out of the sails of anti-gay campaigners. His comments won’t help the Family Research Council’s Tony Perkins raise money, and the National Organization For Marriage’s Brian Brown must be downright depressed.
If your message isn’t swaying Newt, who is listening?
