The reason it saddens me is because people in my demographic niche ought to be energized by teaching our kids that discrimination is wrong and ought to vote for marriage equality because it’s the right thing to do to treat our fellow human beings with decency and respect. But you’re right; just because it *should* be enough to appeal to these basic principles doesn’t mean it *will* be enough.

I think that on this issue, for a lot of straight voters, the key is humanizing the individuals and families who are involved. Of those statistics about who voted for and against Prop. 8, I wonder what they would show if the pollsters could have segregated straight parents whose kids were friends or classmates with kids of gay families from the rest. If you can get people who (think they) don’t know any gay couples to have enough imagination to empathize with kids in that situation, I think you’re right that their protective instincts will take over. For some, “protection” means they’ll want to “rescue” those kids from their parents, but most of us aren’t so wacko.