Utah Senator Orrin Hatch, who opposes
gay marriage, has predicted victory for supporters of equality at the
Supreme Court.
Hatch, a Republican and a member of the
Mormon Church, created a firestorm of criticism in 2010 when he
called on Republicans to emulate the tactics of gay rights activists
in supporting Democratic candidates.
“Gays and lesbians don't pay tithing,
their religion is politics,” Hatch said.
Last year, the 80-year-old Hatch said
if the Supreme Court rules in favor of allowing gay couples to marry,
“it opens a plethora of problems that the court will be forever
trying to decide.”
Still, he has endorsed civil unions for
gay couples.
Civil unions “could solve this
problem without undermining the very basis of marital law in our
country.”
On Thursday, Hatch told Salt
Lake City CBS affiliate KUTV that “many feel that once it gets
to the Supreme Court, they'll find an equal protection or due process
situation that would allow gay marriage in every state.”
“Well, I'm hoping that the 10th
Circuit Court of Appeals will decide that the states have a right to
decide their version of marriage,” he added, a reference to a Utah
appeal to uphold the state's ban.