Jonathan Rauch expects "incremental progress as public opinion slowly changes" - and other reviews of the last year or decade

Jonathan Rauch is author of Gay Marriage: Why It Is Good for Gays, Good for Straights, and Good for America. Earlier this year he and David Blankenhorn offered a proposal that they hope will reconcile supporters and opponents of gay marriage. In this LA Times opinion article, he identifies emerging trends, observing how "the year marked a shift to what a storyteller might call the 'long middle.' "

Law student Gideon Alper identifies the "top ten" legal stories at the Gay Couples Law Blog, with part 2 to follow tomorrow. His list includes the New York Senate's defeat of marriage-equality legislation. He observes that both the governor and state Assembly favored it. But Brian Raum, senior counsel of the Alliance Defense Fund, considers the defeat "not a change in the political tide but rather a reflection in the pool of enduring support for the protection and preservation of marriage." Raum also thinks it noteworthy that "of the 194 countries around the world, 187 retain the common understanding of marriage." At his Massachusetts G.L.B.T. Law Blog, Massachusetts attorney Christopher Vaughn-Martel reviews "the state of same-sex marriage throughout the world."

For another "top ten" list, see this 01/01/2010 entry at Huffington Post.

Check out "Courting Justice," by attorney Chris Geidner of Law Dork. He discusses "the most important cases affecting LGBT people in the past decade."

Journalist Karen Ocamb offers her "Prop. 8 - Year in Review" here.