Utah Senator Orrin Hatch, who opposes
gay marriage, has predicted nationwide victory for supporters of
marriage equality.
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 Wednesday, Hatch said the writing
was on the wall.
“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,” Hatch
said during an appearance on KSL Radio's Doug Wright Show.
“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.”