"The consequences ... of losing are great. And we're unprepared for the consequences of winning."

So says Matthew Coles, the director of the American Civil Liberties Union's lesbian and gay rights project, discussing the pursuit of a constitutional right to gay marriage in the courts. Matt Foreman, the executive director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, says: "Our legal strategy is at least 10 years ahead of our political and legislative strategy." These quotes and some excellent analysis appear in this NYT article by Adam Liptak. The gay marriage question is the most complex interaction of law and politics I have ever seen.