"Regaining Lost Ground" from Activist Judges

It's a comment on how bad things have gotten in Virginia that the passage of a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage (by overwhelming margins, natch) is considered only a mildly anti-gay development for the state.

Meanwhile, in a development that shows how tentative liberals have become on the question of gay marriage, a NYTimes editorial today praises Mayor Bloomberg's decision to appeal last week's local court decision holding that Big Apple homos must be granted marriage licenses:

One lower court judge - or one small-town mayor, as in the case of New Paltz, N.Y., last year - cannot single-handedly rewrite a state's marriage law. And gay couples should not be lured someplace to have weddings that could turn out to have no legal standing.

Clearly, the Gray Lady is glad there's no Gavin Newsom in Gracie Mansion.