Voices
Justice Anthony Kennedy wondered about “the voice of those
children” with gay parents. On
Wednesday, Justice Ruth Bader
Ginsburg wondered whether it
was constitutional to have “two
kinds of marriage” with only one
being “full marriage.”
It is still true that people’s support for or opposition to gay marriage is largely based on their
moral worldview. But the public
language we use to defend our positions is just as important as our
ultimate policy positions. That is
because language can both shape
policy and serve as a lagging indicator of policy. The way we frame
issues in our public debate can
influence policy preferences. Since
last week featured less moral condemnation of homosexuality in the
Court, then perhaps the general
public discussion of homosexuality will feature less moral commendation. This could lead to the
decrease of morally negative views
of gay rights, as has already been
happening. Without moral discomfort with gay rights, policy support
for gay rights will increase.
Language not only can change
behavior but can also serve as a
lagging indicator of behavioral
changes that are on the horizon.
DAVID
FONTANA
HUFFINGTON
04.07.13
If you cannot give reasons for a
policy position in public, it is often a sign that you are uncomfortable with these reasons — in part
because of your own conflicted
feelings, and in part because you
know people might really dislike
your reasons and you don’t want
to disagree with your audience. It
is often just a matter of time, then,
before private preferences catch up
to conflicting public justifications.
Language not only can
change behavior but can also
serve as a lagging indicator
of behavioral changes that
are on the horizon.”
We will all anxiously await the
Court’s decision in these two cases. The decisions in these cases
matter, but a major victory has already been won in how the Court
talked about these issues last
week. Language matters, and the
language of last week in the Court
was not as ugly as many
feared it would be.
David Fontana is associate professor
of law at George Washington
University Law School.