Interesting Rhetoric

After the California Supreme Court upheld a ban on gay marriage yesterday, I'v espent a few fascinating hours reading the rhetoric spinning around this unexpected ruling. It's telling, but not surprising, to find that the majority of media voices out there are fimrly in the anti-Proposition 8 camp. Take, for example, this lede from the Washington Post:

The ruling Tuesday by California's Supreme Court upholding a ban on same-sex
marriages shows that, despite a year of successes for gay activists, the road
toward full marriage rights remains difficult -- particularly when voters are
given a direct say.

Those pesky voters. Always throwing up obstacles. Funny how the voters are blamed for this, when "the voters" also elected Barack Obama, in which instance the press praises "the voters" beyond all measure.

CNN.com fares little better. They write:

The same court, dominated by Republican appointees, ruled in May 2008 that the
state constitution guaranteed gay and lesbian couples the "basic civil right" to
marry. Voters responded in November by approving the marriage ban by a margin of 52 to 48 percent.

Now, back in May 2008 when the court rules in favor of gay marriage, I didn't read anything about how the court was dominated by Republicans. But it's the same court now that upheld the Constitutionality of Proposition 8, and now, suddenly, they're Republicans.

And it goes on. Nearly every story I read shows a bias towards those making the "struggle" or the "fight" for gay marriage, without thinking of those who oppose gay marriage. A surprising stance for the press, which ought to be able to maintain neutrality. Neutrality isn't hard to do.