Well, in case you had some doubt, here’s proof that conservatives are not just trying to “protect marriage,” but in fact are aggressively trying to bash gays. Kevin Drum notes a report on one consequence of Michigan’s “defense of marriage” law, which stated “The union of one man and one woman in marriage shall be the only agreement recognized as a marriage or similar union for any purpose.” At the time, it was sold as simply keeping gays from marrying. But now, it has been used by the Republican state attorney general to actively ban any state-run institution from offering spousal benefits to gay people. It looks like it’s going to be upheld and that next year, gay people who receive such benefits will be cut off.

Now, consider that for a moment. The idea that allowing gays to marry will somehow harm the institution of marriage is already a grotesquely transparent excuse for homophobia. But to accept this new attack as anything but pure gay bashing would suggest that there are actually people out there who would rethink the idea of heterosexual marriage because the state of Michigan extends family support benefits to gay people.

Even the most hardcore fundamentalist bigots would not be able to suppress their gag reflex upon trying to swallow that particular throbbing foot-long delivery of homophobic pseudo-logic.