by Charles Krauthammer

About the author: Charles Krauthammer is a well-known writer whose essays have appeared in Time, Newsweek, and the New Republic.

The House of Representatives may have passed legislation . . . opposing gay marriage, but the people will soon be trumped by the courts. In September the judges of the Hawaii Supreme Court are expected to legalize gay marriage. Once done there, gay marriage—like quickie Nevada divorces—will have to be recognized "under the full faith and credit clause of the Constitution" throughout the rest of the U.S.

Gay marriage is coming. Should it"

For the time being, marriage is defined as the union 1) of two people 2) of the opposite sex. Gay-marriage advocates claim that restriction No. 2 is discriminatory, a product of mere habit or tradition or, worse, prejudice. But what about restriction No. 1? If it is...