Do court rulings fire you up to defend, define, debate marriage?

We are saw the marriage Do court rulings fire you up to defend, define, debate marriage?
Now that a federal judge in Massachusetts has ruled that the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which defines marriage as one man and one woman, is unconstitutional, activists on all sides have their hair on fire.

There's joy for same-sex marriage supporters in five states and the District of Columbia where it is legal and hopes are higher to see DOMA overturned nationwide.

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Likewise, there's outrage among opponents of gay marriage in the 30 states where voters amended their constitution to specifically to block it and activists see this as the road to family destruction.

many radical activist groups in the U.S. are attempting to twist the law to change the definition of marriage and the family to include same-sex "marriage," polygamy, polyamory, and other structures. These groups scoff at the idea that there is any fixed or known set of values or beliefs that is generally good for families or culture.

Meanwhile, the Human Rights Campaign is monitoring the same issue from the pro-gay marriage stance. It quotes Judge Joseph Tauro's ruling against DOMA, that,

... indeed, Congress undertook this classification for the one purpose that lies entirely outside of legislative bounds, to disadvantage a group of which it disapproves. And such a classification, the Constitution clearly will not permit.

And all sides are holding their breath for a ruling expected in California from Chief U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker on a lawsuit challenging Proposition 8, the statewide ban approved by voters in 2008.

Geoff Kors, executive director of Equality California, which seeks to have the ban struck down, said Walker could do anything from overturn Prop 8 on broad constitutional grounds, such as violating the equal protection clause, to saying the state law stands.

You can get a history of the whole history of the contentious issue at Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life.

But outside the courtroom, in the world where gay and straight people are neighbors, co-workers, church pew acquaintances, and friends is there still such extreme heat on this topic as even a few years ago?
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