Good Man

Ted Olson, the Conservative Republican Who Argued for Marriage Equality at the Supreme Court

There's a wonderful profile in the Los Angeles Times about Ted Olson, an old Reaganite who just finished oral arguments in favor of marriage equality at the Supreme Court.

Talking Points Memo reports Olson refused to speculate on the case: "Based upon the questions that the justices asked, I have no idea." So sorry, no insight there, and I won't go into Supreme Court punditry (because let's be real, I don't know), but we'll find out soon enough how the court rules on Proposition 8 and the broader question of marriage equality.

Now, that LATimes profile:

Olson says he doesn't think his politics have changed, though he concedes that he has "learned a lot" about himself from the current case. He believes gay marriage is a conservative cause.

"There are libertarian conservatives, fiscal conservatives and social conservatives," he said. "I feel conservative in terms of limited government, individual responsibility, self-sufficiency — that sort of thing."

"Why would [conservatives] be against individuals who wished to live together and have a stable, loving, long-term relationship?"

But, according to one Olson friend, "there are a lot of people who are very unhappy" about his views — "people close to Ted who because of their faith are strong believers in the sanctity of marriage between a man and a woman."

"I don't think Ted has been very brave about facing them," said the friend, who spoke on condition of anonymity to preserve relations with both sides. "He's braver in front of the Supreme Court."

Lady Booth Olson says Washington critics have confused cause and effect. Her husband didn't change to handle the case, she said; rather, the case changed him.

"When you look discrimination in the face — these people who got up and testified for hours about what it's like to be denied the right to marry — it's transformative, really," she said. "I think he's starting to open his mind and heart a little bit more than he used to."

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Justin Green

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