Marriage Equality, the Supreme Court, the Extreme Conservative Fringe Anthony Kennedy & Ronald Reagan by Mike Broemmel

Over the course of the first hour following the release of the opinion by the Supreme Court in the marriage equality case, I received, messages from people indicating that the decision has "upset God," is a "sad day for America," and that "Ronald Reagan is turning over in his grave." I feel compelled to address these messages (and public posts) and I do so now.

First, unlike some of my conservative Christian friends, I'm do not believe that I am capable of getting into the mind of God. In fact, neither can they. In the end, God is all-powerful and all-loving -- everything is possible with God, including a universe in which people of the same sex are able to be joined in marriage as a testament to their love and commitment to one another.

Second, no matter the side of the marriage equality issue a person may be on, this is in fact not a sad day for America. Like many people, I'm thoroughly frustrated with many things going on in politics and government today. For example, I am not a fan of the ACA because I think in the end it is doing (or will do) more harm than good. I'm not necessarily on the same page as the U.S. Supreme Court in regard to its decision yesterday regarding this law. But, the Court has ruled and that issue is off the table. The court has ruled again today, and the issue of marriage equality is the settled law of the land. In short, our system of government (as clunky and cumbersome it oftentimes is) still works. June 26, 2015, is a happy day for America.

Finally, to those people who have the audacity to say Ronald Reagan is spinning in his grave with today's decision of the Supreme Court, I take great umbrage. I am sick and tired of the extreme right wing fringe of the GOP (which, I admit, is a considerable segment of the Republican Party today) literally taking the name of Ronald Reagan in vain. Ronald Reagan would not be supportive of the extreme right wing fringe of the GOP today. In fact, as I did in 2008, I rather imagine if Ronald Reagan were alive today, he would switch parties and become a Democrat, the party he was a part of during the younger years of his adult life. (Keep in mind that Presidents Eisenhower, Nixon and Ford would likely bolt the GOP if they were alive today ... with Senator Goldwater driving the car.)

I had the privilege of working for President Reagan in the mid-1980s -- as a low ranking Munchkin at the White House. I don't pretend to be able to read his mind. However, and despite what some of his opponents say about him, he was one of the kindest, most considerate and decent people I've ever encountered -- ever. Mrs. Reagan is supportive of marriage equality. Although I'm not trying to play into the cliché that what Mrs. Reagan wanted, Mr. Reagan did, it is not a stretch to say that the former President would share her position on this issue.

I addressed the issue of Ronald and Nancy Reagan and the LGBTQ community in an article I wrote a few years ago on the early days of the AIDS pandemic. I include a portion of that article here to further explain my thoughts on why it is utterly inappropriate for the GOP fringe to misappropriate the mantel of Ronald Reagan in the (now over) debate on marriage equality:

"First and foremost, nothing in the history of either Ronald or Nancy Reagan supports the proposition that they harbored an anti-gay agenda. No credible evidence supports the contention that the Reagans believed a minority segment of the population deserved death because of their sexuality.

"The Reagans were products of Hollywood, a community with a notably higher percentage of homosexuals than the population of the country more generally. Indeed, Ronald Reagan served eight years as the president of the Screen Actor’s Guild, the paramount union in the entertainment industry.

"The Reagans counted as close friends men in the industry ultimately outed as gay. The sexuality of these individual’s certainly was known to the Reagans well before the public at large gleaned that information.

"During his tenure as governor of California, Ronald Reagan faced media coverage over the inclusion of homosexuals on his official staff. He hired gubernatorial staff members without regard to sexual preference as early as the late 1960s and early 1970s, well before his more liberal counterparts in elective office considered doing the same. He joined with Jimmy Carter and Harvey Milk in opposing a California initiative that would have barred homosexuals from teaching in classrooms."

On some level the most important legacy a U.S. President leaves the nation is found in who he (or she) appoints to the U.S. Supreme Court. In my estimation, two of the most outstanding and honorable Associate Justices of the U.S. Supreme Court were Reagan appointees Sandra Day O'Connor and Anthony Kennedy. Justice Kennedy wrote the majority opinion in the case making marriage equality the law of the land. Justice Kennedy wrote:

"No union is more profound than marriage, for it embodies the highest ideals of love, fidelity, devotion, sacrifice, and family. In forming a marital union, two people become something greater than once they were. As some of the petitioners in these cases demonstrate, marriage embodies a love that may endure even past death. It would misunderstand these men and women to say they disrespect the idea of marriage.

"Their plea is that they do respect it, respect it so deeply that they seek to find its fulfillment for themselves. Their hope is not to be condemned to live in loneliness, excluded from one of civilization’s oldest institutions. They ask for equal dignity in the eyes of the law. The Constitution grants them that right."

In the end, Ronald Reagan is not spinning in his grave today. He is smiling down on Anthony Kennedy, and the former President is applauding the decision of the U.S. Supreme Court granting marriage equality to all of the American people.