David Boies and Theodore Olsen, two of the best appellate lawyers in the United States, and opposing counsel in Bush v. Gore, are now jointly representing plaintiffs in a case challenging California’s ban on gay marriage.
Mr. Olsen had, until becoming an advocate for same-sex marriage, impeccable credentials as a Republican and conservative. Wikipedia describes him as a “major figure in the conservative legal movement.” ((Theodore Olson entry on Wikipedia, accessed 16 January 2010.))
Support for same-sex marriage is, of course, consistent with a number of threads in conservatism: respect for individual choice, the liberty interest in persons having maximal control over what John Stuart Mill called “self-regarding” acts, and the proposition that the government shouldn’t, for the most part, intrude on private decisions.
Likewise, there enough “leftists” and “progressives” – even “feminists” who’ve taken homophobic and anti-sex or anti-sex-worker positions that equal those of, for instance, Kenneth Starr, who accepted the assignment opposing Boies and Olson – after Olson had declined.
It’s nice to see conservatives actually be conservative. Perhaps this is a tipping point; it’s certainly a milestone.
See Margaret Talbot’s outstanding piece A Risky Proposal available at the website of The New Yorker ((and in the print edition dated January 14, 2010)).
