(Jamison Wieser/ BY-NC-SA)
Liz Mair is a Republican political strategist. She led online communications for the Republican National Committee, worked on Governor Rick Perry’s presidential campaign and Governor Scott Walker’s recall election.
Surprisingly, today’s Supreme Court decisions on same-sex marriage is a victory for her. Mair is a member of the Young Conservatives for the Freedom To Marry campaign, and she doesn’t think it will be long until all states allow gay and lesbian couples to marry.
”I’m a libertarian. My general view is that it’s a bad idea to have private contracts between consenting adults being voided on the basis of nebulous public policy grounds where you don’t have scientific evidence backing up the particular stance,” she said.
Mair said it’s gratifying to see her point of view be validated by the Supreme Court. Although many of her colleagues would have liked the Supreme Court to acknowledge that marriage is a “right” that belongs to everyone, Mair said that by sending the issue back to individual states, there is an opportunity for more people to embrace the issue.“Yes, there would have been a certain amount of convenience in that, but I actually think in many respects the process that we’ll need to pursue by virtue of the court’s decision today, is the right one. And it could enable a lot more consensus to be built around this issue. It could result in a lot more positive dialogue, and the freedom to marry being a far less divisive issue than some out there,” she said.
Mair said that going forward, the campaign will probably focus its efforts on the remaining states that do not allow same-sex marriage. And the Court’s decision has motivated her to continue the push.
“I think if you look at all that polling you will find that across the board, although the precise numbers vary, there is fairly strong support for same-sex marriage and the freedom to marry amongst younger voters. …That’s an important thing because it provides an indication of where the country is going to go,“ she said.
Other young conservative groups, like the Tampa Bay Young Republicans, issued statements supporting the decisions as well. An excerpt from their statement reads:
The Tampa Bay Young Republicans agree that all people be treated equally under law, and by the Federal Government, as is guaranteed by the Fifth Amendment. As Republicans, we should always be against the expansion of the Federal Government’s power. This ruling today limits the power of the Federal Government to act on the issue of marriage. Additionally, this ruling will not infringe on Florida’s or any religious institution’s definition of marriage. Therefore, the TBYR celebrates the Court’s decision on DOMA.