Prop. 8 Witness Changes Mind On Gay Marriage

[WSJ Law Blog]

David Blankenhorn, one of only two witnesses who testified in support of California's Prop. 8 gay-marriage ban during a 2010 trial, has changed his mind -- just as the Supreme Court must weigh whether to pick up the case.

A spokesman for the Institute for American Values, which he founded, said Mr. Blankenhorn wasn’t immediately available to comment. Charles Cooper, a lawyer for ProtectMarriage.com, the group that defended Prop. 8 and put Mr. Blankenhorn on the stand, had this to say:

It is significant that Mr. Blankenhorn today reaffirmed both his trial testimony and his long-held public view that redefining marriage will “efface” marriage as the “gift that society bestows on its children.” He also reiterated that redefining marriage will contribute significantly to marriage’s “transformation in both law and custom from a structured institution with clear public purposes” to nothing more than “the state’s licensing of private relationships that are privately defined.” It is also noteworthy that Mr. Blankenhorn’s change in views reflects, in part, a professed lack of “stomach” for “culture wars” and concern for what he believes to be the emerging view of “our national elite.” While we strongly disagree with the position Mr. Blankenhorn has now taken, his change of view, much like President Obama’s evolution, brings into sharp focus that people of goodwill, with malice toward none, can disagree in good faith about this issue and that the courts should not foreclose the continuing debate, currently taking place across the country, on this vitally important issue.

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