the national interest

Gay-Marriage Foes Going Through Stages of Grief

Photo: Spencer Platt/Getty Images

1. Denial

“Marriage was created by the hand of God. No man, not even a Supreme Court, can undo what a holy God has instituted,” Michele Bachmann said in a statement to the press.

2. Anger

“My guess is that the majority, while reluctant to suggest that defining the meaning of ‘marriage’ in federal statutes is unsupported by any of the Federal Government’s enumerated powers, nonetheless needs some rhetorical basis to support its pretense that today’s prohibition of laws excluding same-sex marriage is confined to the Federal Government (leaving the second, state-law shoe to be dropped later, maybe next Term).” —Justice Scalia

2. Anger

“My guess is that the majority, while reluctant to suggest that defining the meaning of ‘marriage’ in federal statutes is unsupported by any of the Federal Government’s enumerated powers, nonetheless needs some rhetorical basis to support its pretense that today’s prohibition of laws excluding same-sex marriage is confined to the Federal Government (leaving the second, state-law shoe to be dropped later, maybe next Term).” —Justice Scalia

3. Bargaining

4. Depression