Sometimes when advocates want to change society, they conclude that they need to “get in people’s faces” about the issue, call in the TV cameras, march in the streets and thereby force a national conversation to occur.
At other times, advocates quietly accrue small victories out of limelight until the facts on the ground have changed before any significant opposition has been roused.
In a fascinating article at Washington Monthly, Alison Gash points out that same sex marriage advocates took the former route, whereas same sex parenting advocates took the latter. Gash compares the process and outcomes of both initiatives, concluding that
History books suggest that our society has made its greatest leaps on the shoulders of high profile campaigns. But change can also be the result of quiet battles that play out in courtrooms, boardrooms and bedrooms all across the country. And it is often these hidden battles that most effectively propel our society forward.
And it is often these hidden battles that most effectively propel our society forward.
…or backward. Cf. the opponents of teaching evolution in the public schools – they are too often successful when they stay out of the limelight (getting elected to local schoolboards, pressuring textbook manufacturers). Only when they go the route of litigation or moving legislation in the state capitols do the forces of the Enlightenment rally to counter them.
It seems to me that Gays have in fact been operating a one-two punch strategy. That would explain why the movement towards gay marriage has begun to happen so rapidly and so broadly. The gay parenting movement prepared the ground for full marriage.