Sen. Orrin Hatch on the inevitability of marriage equality in the US

Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch

Seven term Republican Senator from Utah Orrin Hatch indicated during a radio interview with KSL Radio’s "Doug Wright Show" that he views marriage equality as inevitable, and anyone who doesn't think so "Isn't living in the real world."

"Let’s face it, anybody who does not believe that gay marriage is going to be the law of the land just hasn’t been observing what’s going on. There is a question whether [the courts] should be able to tell the states what they can or cannot do with something as important as marriage, but the trend right now in the courts is to permit gay marriage and anybody who doesn’t admit that just isn’t living in the real world.

"We have an excellent federal bench [in Utah]. Other federal judges down there might not have arrived at the same conclusion that these two have. But I think it’s a portent of the future that sooner or later gay marriage is probably going to be approved by the Supreme Court of the United States, certainly as the people in this country move towards it, especially young people.

"I don’t think that’s the right way to go; on the other hand, I do accept whatever the courts say."

It should be noted that Hatch played a key role, as chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, in the nominations of both Robert Shelby (who ruled Utah's same-sex marriage ban unconstitutional) and Dale Kimball (who recently declared Utah must recognize those same-sex couples who married in Utah during the brief window between late December and January 6).

(source)