Did this anti-gay activist accurately predict the Supreme Court verdict?
Anti-gay marriage activist Maggie Gallagher accurately predicted when equality would come to all 50 states.
The co-founder of the National Organisation for Marriage, one of the most well-known campaigners against same-sex marriage in America, made her predictions in March and April 2014.
Speaking at the time, Gallagher said she believed full equality was inevitable in less than 18 months.
She said: “I believe that with the Windsor decision, we now clearly have five votes in the supreme court for gay marriage in all 50 states, so I think that’s going to happen very shortly.
“[We are] about 18 months until we have gay marriage in all 50 states in my judgement.”
Indeed, the Supreme Court ruling came in June 2015, some 15 months later – three months ahead of schedule.
By September 2015, it is likely that remaining hold-outs in counties where clerks are refusing to grant licenses, will be resolved – just as Gallagher predicted.
Her comments at the time left gay rights activists perplexed – as a Supreme Court case hadn’t even been filed, and was seen as a distant and lengthy prospect
A baffled Jeremy Hooper of GLAAD wrote last year: “I still don’t get why she has so fully and utterly given up every fiber of fight.
“At this point, there isn’t even a case headed to the Supreme Court, and there will surely be at least a few more state-level fights, be at the ballot box or in front of a judge, before a case makes its way to the high court.
“The organization that Maggie co-founded, NOM, is certainly still trying its best to stave off inevitability. Why is Maggie going around town making the inevitability argument for us?”
Indeed, her motive remains a mystery. Gallagher’s explanation of what comes next, however, is likely less accurate.
She said at the time: “Our big challenge is going to be how do we sustain a culture or sub-culture of marriage when our government defines and teaches that marriage is something rather different than what we believe.”
