Here's an editorial in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution about the pending ban on gay marriage in Georgia. I agree with the view expressed and was especially intrigued by this part…
Ten, 20, 30 years from now, we're going to have to go back into the Georgia Constitution to pull this hateful language out. And some of the very politicians who today will vote in favor of that language will no doubt be there when it is repealed, sheepishly trying to explain how it wasn't really about hate and discrimination, how back then they were just worried about protecting marriage and the family.
That's playing the race card without playing the race card, if you know what I mean. There are a lot of politicians all over (and certainly in Atlanta) who once voted for segregation but now turn backflips to try and explain how such-and-such a vote wasn't really a racist act. The analogy between race and sexual preference only goes so far but I think it works here. We will someday regard "defense of marriage" as the same kind of hateful codewords as "separate but equal."