Those poor, poor marriage traditionalists. Their victory Tuesday in the California Supreme Court only temporarily eclipses the lack of power they have (since 18,000-plus same-sex marriages are left intact) and will likely be reversed once a cogent argument is made against this separate-but-equal status in federal court or an anti-Prop 8 measure is brought to ballot again in that state.

I think this decision is a godsend by the fact that there are millions of young voters (regardless of sexual orientation) in California appalled at this ruling and now energized. Just as certain as the fact that Prop 8 will be overturned or relegislated is the fact that the old way is currently going the way of Dodo. Polls show that younger voters are much less threatened by the concept of marriage equality than are their elders. Leading conservative talking heads and even Republican leaders are ditching this issue.

Most polls show that across the spectrum of American life, the reality of same-sex couples/marriage/families is becoming readily ordinary and nothing shocking.

But then, there's nothing like marginalizing people to make a "bigger tent."

Opponents of same-sex marriage know it's inevitable. The changing of the tide has already begun (to wit, Maine, Vermont, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Iowa -- and likely soon, New York, and Washington state just enacted an "Everything-But-Marriage" law in regard to state benefits for domestic partners).

These naysayers risk not only political impotence but national irrelevance as they stake out divisive positions that no longer apply to up-and-coming voting-age Americans.

So, I ask them, what does it feel like to be a Dixiecrat in the 21st century?

JAY A. DANIELS, MINNEAPOLIS