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Gay marriage was legalized under a majority conservative court system way back in 2003. When it went to a poplar vote in the bright blue State of California in 2008, Prop 8's plan to kill it passed by a healthy margin
This was the same year Obama was tiptoeing around full legalization of gay marriage for fear of pissing off too many swing voters in the Midwest.
Gay marriage wasn't fully legalized into 2015, again by the conservative courts. Efforts to legislate civil rights for LGBT people have largely failed even when the Pres and Leg were fully in Dem control.
Again, under a Liberal government. And I keep saying over and over -- I know they phone it in and constantly give bigot 'swing voters' things they want. I've never said anything against that. It had a 60% approval by the public in 2015 when it was fully legalized. So again, for like the fifth goddamn time -- Liberal governments can be forced to do these things by popular will. Conservatives won't (I'm sure there's like two examples someone will bring up, again, exception proves the rule.)
To sum: Liberals have to be forced to allow LGBT rights by popular opinion. Conservatives do this.
The Republicans controlled every branch of government in 2003, as well as a majority of state legislatures and governorships.
What broke for gay marriage in 2003 was a libertarian strain of conservatism defecting from the mainstream. Liberals accepted the change with the same passivity as they accepted the status quo.
Again by a majority conservative court. The Obama legislature dragged its heels.
They can be forced to do things by powerful socio-economic interests. In this case, a big chunk of the legal community broke for gay marriage and Obama didn't try to get in the way.
But they didn't do anything. They just let the change happen.
https://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/3758652-here-are-the-gop-senators-who-voted-against-the-same-sex-marriage-bill/
https://newrepublic.com/post/169392/full-list-republicans-vote-against-same-sex-marriage
https://www.cpr.org/2020/02/14/why-4-colorado-republicans-tried-and-failed-to-ban-gay-marriage-in-2020/
and here's some anti LGBT-youth stuff https://leg.colorado.gov/bills/hb20-1144
You'll notice that in each and every case, the anti LGBT stuff is all Conservative, because Conservatives have that 'call to the past' or whatever; where 'the way things were' in the past is always better, and in the past women didn't have rights, LGBT people couldn't marry, etc.
Liberals don't actively fight against rights unless it's an overall popular voter opinion. Conservatives do regardless.
I say this as someone who's about as far left as one can go. I think you're A. grossly underestimating how useful 'letting change happen' is when it comes to popular opinion on rights, and grossly underestimating how much damage Conservatives clawing and gnashing at allowing rights for more people is.