Last week I noted that we're rapidly approaching the kind of society where frank homophobia is almost as socially radioactive as similarly blunt expressions of racism. Amanda Terkel reports that the high-priced law firm the GOP hired to defend the constitutionality of the ban on federal recognition of same-sex marriage has decided against taking the job, a decision that highlights the problems the GOP faces as its own base remains staunchly opposed to gay rights even as the rest of the country grows more favorable:
Last week, the firm came under intense criticism from LGBT groups, which may have played a role in King & Spalding's decision to re-examine its role in the case.
Jon Davidson, legal director of Lambda Legal, the nation's oldest and largest legal organization working for LGBT equality, told The Huffington Post that defending the law would likely hurt the firm's effort to recruit lawyers.
"I think it's going to hurt them in their recruiting of future lawyers," he told The Huffington Post.
Republicans took some heat for spending a lot of money defending DOMA while declaring the country "broke," but it's not like they're going to stop defending the law, and the firm itself presumably wouldn't have lost face because of how much it was charging. It seems likely that the social stigma associated with defending legalized discrimination against gays and lesbians might have harmed its relationships with current and potential clients -- as well as current and potential employees -- who don't want to be associated with a homophobic law firm.
Don't get it twisted -- whatever you think of their political views, there are plenty of sharp lawyers working for religious-right law firms and the like, at least for now. This won't hurt the House GOP's ability to get top-notch legal talent to defend DOMA's constitutionality -- indeed former Solicitor General Paul Clement has quit his firm in order to continued defending DOMA. Nevertheless, It's not just the political center that is rejecting the GOP's regressive views on gay rights -- it's also the market. As time goes on, the GOP will find itself not only losing votes but human capital as well.
