Could California's gay marriage mean the end of the Culture War?

We think it began ending after Larry Craig's arrest, but The Nation's Richard Kim thinks the big bang came last week. And, despite what the right wing says, California's Supreme Court merely upheld legislative will, rather than legislating on their own accord:

In 2005 and 2007 the California State Legislature passed bills granting gays and lesbians the right to marry; on both occasions, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed the bills. But by directly expressing their support for gay marriage through the democratic process, the State Legislature undercut the right-wing claim that gay marriage is something "activist judges" foist onto an unwilling public. Indeed, the majority on the state's Supreme Court, comprising three Republicans and one Democrat, weren't "legislating from the bench"; they were reaffirming legislative will. And despite his vetoes, Schwarzenegger has said that he respects the court's opinion and opposes an amendment to the California Constitution, something he calls "a waste of time."

The same-sex shift in California, Kim argues, can only bring good things to the Democrats. That's an understandable argument, but it would be even more true if the Democrats and the Republicans differed on gay marriage, which they don't.

The decision is even better because social conservatives are calling on McCain to take a tougher stand against gay marriage, but he can't, which means this voting bloc may give up on him entirely. And that's what would be good for the Democrats come November.

During his post-scandal statement yesterday, Senator Larry Craig gave the media a perfect soundbyte, "I am not gay. I never have been gay." No doubt news heads have heard those nine words countless of times since yesterday afternoon. No doubt you will hear them again.

"I am not gay. I never have been gay." Those nine words will be etched as hard and as deep as former New Jersey governor Jim McGreevey's famous five: "I am a gay American."

Craig's nine words will define the end of his culture warrior career. For once he may not by lying. And, by some twist of political fate, Craig may be helping so-called "sexual deviants".

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The Nation's Richard Kim offers an intriguing rumination-cum-hypothesis on Larry Craig, Bob Allen and other hypocritical politicos:

…I wonder if the GOP's burgeoning "bathroom problem" isn't reflective of something larger than just a bunch of conservative dudes who couldn't come out of the closet. There's something palpably sad to me about what happened to Allen and Craig too, something oddly touching about their misplaced faith in the fading world of secret, anonymous gay sex. That world–once found in bathrooms, parks, piers and adult bookstores; the furtive refuges of adventuresome queers, married men, the curious–has been swept away by so many police raids, privatization schemes, quality of life campaigns and internet dating services. But mostly, it's fallen away as gays have become increasingly integrated into the mainstream, and also, paradoxically, more marked than ever. "You're either gay or you're not" seems to be the equation.

Until someone like Craig, Allen, Mark Foley, Ted Haggard or Jim McGreevey shows up to ripple momentarily the waters of public discourse on sex. These guys have problems, no doubt. But we might also pause to wonder if there's some cultural knot that gay liberation–despite its original and best intentions–has left in place. At the very least the link between public power and domestic heterosexuality–with all the fetishistic displays of family life that entails–has yet to be completely severed.

This theory, of course, doesn't include popular, openly gay, childless lawmakers like Barney Frank.

• Barack Obama's proud to have gay Bishop Gene Robinson's vote. Interfaith Alliance honcho, Reverend Welton Gaddy, however, isn't so pleased with Barack Obama's Robinson pride:

Today’s endorsement of Senator Barack Obama’s campaign for president by Bishop Gene Robinson is just the latest example of candidates misusing religious leaders for political gain.

Holy smokes!

• Picture it: America, 2035 - God has smitten costume-wearing sex fiends. Gays become national treasure.

• Can Singapore's homophobia get any more ridiculous? The Media Development agency has censored a short story reading which included a story by gay author Ng Yi-Sheng:

Ng's text was disallowed as it had gone beyond good taste and decency in taking a disparaging and disrespectful view of public officers.

Ng's got at least one theory as to why the government banned his story: it included a politician called "Lee Low Tar," which sounds somewhat similar to PM Lee Hsien Loong.

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