Turning the tables on the gay thing

Today, April 28, 2015 is the historic day that the Supreme Court hears oral arguments which could be the death knell of state bans of same-sex marriage all over the country.   Or it could be the day that SCOTUS kicked the can down the road again by upholding those bans in Ohio, Michigan, Tennessee, and Kentucky -- and throwing into confusion the married gays and lesbians in the 36 states where it is now legal.

But it is legal in many of those state because of federal court rulings, not because of legislatures that changed their laws without mandate from the judicial system.   If SCOTUS upholds bans in these four states, what will that mean for the 36 states?   Can they re-instate their bans?    Will the weddings still be valid?

Whichever way SCOTUS decides these cases, it's interesting that just on the eve of this momentous day, Ian Reisner and Mati Weiderpass, Republicans and longtime gay partners, hosted a fundraiser in their home for Sen. Ted Cruz.    The event first made news for what Cruz said at the party -- that, if one of his daughters were gay, "I would love them just as much."

Compared to Cruz's anti-gay statements on the campaign trail, this seemed a slightly moderating stance on his previous anti-gay stance.

Now the other shoe dropped.   Reisner began getting furious backlash from friends and others in the gay community.   How could he host a fund-raiser for this anti-gay bigot?    A boycott was started against his business.

Reisner admitted that he had simply responded to a request to hold the fund-raiser without doing his homework on Cruz's positions on gay marriage.   He now acknowledged his poor judgment.

"I am shaken to my bones . . . .  I was ignorant, naive and much too quick in accepting a request to co-host a dinner with Cruz at my home without taking the time to completely understand all of his positions on gay rights.

"I've spent the past 24 hours reviewing videos of Cruz' statements on gay marriage and I am shocked and angry. I sincerely apologize for hurting the gay community and so many of our friends, family, allies, customers and employees. I will try my best to make up for my poor judgement. Again, I am deeply sorry."

Ethical question:    Should Cruz return the money raised at the event, which (sort of) was raised under false pretense to the guests?   That is, an implied endorsement by the hosts?

Personal question:    Who set Reisner up this way?    Didn't the person who asked him to host the event know Ted Cruz's positions and think it would be a problem?

The big question:   Who would ever have thought, even 5 years ago, that the big problem in Republican fund-raising circles would be that a candidate was too anti-gay?

Ralph