Despite all the posturing, gay marriage is a no-brainer (4/16/2009 Des Moines Register, guest column)

For me, a 40-something father of three, the Iowa Supreme Court ruling that affirmed the right of gay and lesbian couples to marry seemed monumental. However, for my kids and many young voters, this ruling is not groundbreaking, it is a given.

In schools, on TV and at home, we have raised this generation to believe that all people should have equal rights. This ruling is a no-brainer.

Last month's CBS News Poll showed 41 percent of Americans ages 18 to 45 support equal marriage for gay couples and another 23 percent support civil unions. Among those ages 45 to 64, 29 percent support equal marriage and 32 percent civil unions. For the group 65 and older, support for equal marriage drops to 18 percent and for civil unions to 27 percent. A majority of those polled by CBS support some sort of legal recognition of a gay couple's relationship. The only subset with a majority opposing such legal recognition (59 percent) was self-identified Republicans.

While the partisan divide makes for good theater, the generational divide tells how this issue will eventually be resolved.

In the days following the court's ruling, Gov. Chet Culver and his staff crafted a statement to neither upset his base nor anger the broader electorate. The governor said a tenet of his faith was that marriage is between a man and a woman. He went on, "I am reluctant to support amending the Iowa Constitution to add a provision that our Supreme Court has said is unlawful and discriminatory." He accentuates the word "reluctant" whenever the issue comes up. Culver & Co. must have decided "reluctant" sounds thoughtful and pained, but it reserves his right to do something should the people of Iowa demand it. He safely sits on the fence, dangling his loafers on both sides of the issue.

As a Democrat, Culver has the political luxury to make such noncommittal rhetorical sweeps. His potential Republican opponents must play to an older, more conservative audience. The GOP base is uneasy, and the challengers are trying to outflank one another for primary votes.

For the second week in a row, State Rep. Christopher Rants proposed a legislative amendment that defines a married couple as "husband and a wife." And perennial Republican gubernatorial candidate Bob Vander Plaats told supporters that if he became governor he would issue an executive order halting same-sex marriage until the people of Iowa voted on the issue. Never mind that no governor has the power to issue an order to overturn the court. Rants and Vander Plaats are playing to their base and testing the political winds, as is Culver.

I asked Charlie Cook, NBC News political analyst and publisher of the Cook Political Report, what impact the Iowa ruling was having on the national scene and whether he had any advice for Iowa politicians. He chuckled and said, "Of course you are calling about gay marriage. Gay marriage is dominating the Iowa landscape, but it will fade. People are losing jobs. The economy will be the principal concern come Election Day. Young voters have already decided the marriage issue, and it doesn't matter what the courts or today's politicians do."

In a Monday article published by the online Daily Beast, Meghan McCain, daughter of U.S. Sen. John McCain of Arizona, the Republican Party's nominee for president last year, called on the party to "Go Gay." She said if Republicans hope to gain support among young voters, "we need to get past our anti-gay rhetoric." Ms. McCain, like many of her generation, was raised to be color-blind, gender unbiased and culturally impartial. Democrats and Republicans alike should listen. A growing segment of the voting population has made a decision about civil marriage.

Economic and security issues may still dominate come Election Day in 2010, but these new, younger voters will be drawn to the party and/or candidates who reflect their core values. Like it or not, Charlie Cook has a point, it is just a matter of when. Time and mortality rates are on the side of equal marriage.

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GRAHAM GILLETTE of Des Moines is a public-affairs consultant and former member of the Des Moines school board.