Five (or So) Qutns I Put to Superlawyer Ted Olson About Gay Marriage and Prop 8 | HuffPost Voic

Contents:

• TED OLSON, GAY MARRIAGE'S UNLIKELY LEGAL WARRR
• THE SURPRISG REPUBLIN HERO OF SAME-SEX MARRIAGEUNEXPECTEDTED OLSON WAS AN UNLIKELY ALLY THE FIGHT AGAST CALIFORNIA’S PROP 8. BUT ALONG WH DAVID BOI, THE BH-ERA SOLICOR GENERAL PHED THE LAW TODAY’S DIRECTN.LLOYD GROVEUPDATED APR. 14, 2017 10:34AM EDT / PUBLISHED JUN. 26, 2015 9:40PM EDT ER SIEGAL/RXWASHGTON SUPERLAWYER TED OLSON IS A HAPPY MAN.“I N’T EVEN BEG TO SCRIBE HOW GOOD I FEEL FOR THE PEOPLE WHOSE LIV ARE AFFECTED A GOOD WAY,” HE TOLD THE DAILY BEAST ON FRIDAY, A FEW HOURS AFTER THE SUPREME COURT CLARED SAME-SEX MARRIAGE A NSTUTNAL RIGHT. “IT HAS BEEN AN EMOTNAL DAY. I FEEL JT ENORMOLY GRATIFIED AND MOVED AND TOUCHED, WH TEARS G TO MY EY, WATCHG THE PEOPLE’S JOY.”OLSON ADD: “THE AMERIN PEOPLE HAVE TO LOOK AT THIS AND SAY, ‘THIS IS A GOOD THG.’” NOW 74 AND A SENR PARTNER THE WHE-SHOE LAW FIRM OF GIBSON, DUNN & CTCHER, OLSON WAS ONE OF THE UNTRY’S MORE PROMENT NSERVATIVE REPUBLIN ACTIVISTS—AND TH AN EXTREMELY UNLIKELY GAY RIGHTS CHAMPN—WHEN HE SIGNED ON TO THE E 2009. IN HIS POLIL ROLE AS A BRAND RIGHT-WGER, OLSON HELPED FOUND THE FERALIST SOCIETY, AN FLUENTIAL GROUP OF NSERVATIVE AND LIBERTARIAN LAWYERS; SERVED ON THE BOARD OF THE AMERIN SPECTATOR MAGAZE; TORMENTED PRINT BILL CLTON AS AN ADVISOR TO PLA JON’S SEXUAL HARASSMENT LAWSU THAT ULTIMATELY RULTED CLTON’S IMPEACHMENT; AND HELPED PREPARE THE 2012 VICE PRINTIAL NOMEE, REP. PL RYAN, FOR HIS TELEVISED NONTATN WH VICE PRINT JOE BIN. (OLSON PLAYED BIN MOCK BAT.)SERVG REPUBLIN PRINTS, HE WAS A HIGH-RANKG OFFICIAL RONALD REAGAN’S JTICE DEPARTMENT AND YEARS LATER WAS SOLICOR GENERAL FOR GEE W. BH.UNTIL FRIDAY MORNG, OLSON WOULD LIKELY HAVE BEEN BT REMEMBERED AS THE MAN WHO ARGUED SUCCSFULLY BEFORE THE SUPREME COURT DECEMBER 2000—WH AMERI’S MOCRACY DISARRAY—THAT WAS TEXAS GOV. GEE W. BH, NOT VICE PRINT AL GORE, WHO HAD LEGIMATELY WON FLORIDA’S 25 ELECTORAL VOT AND TH THE WHE HOE, NEVER MD THE URT-ORRED REUNT SUPPOSEDLY PROGRSG THE SUNSHE STATE.“WELL,” OLSON SAID WH A LGH WHEN ASKED WHICH ACPLISHMENT HE’D NSIR HIS LEGACY—MAKG BH THE 43RD PRINT OR HELPG TO NATNALIZE SAME-SEX MARRIAGE. “I DON’T THK ABOUT MAKG A LEGACY OR THAT I MA ANYBODY PRINT. BUT AS FAR AS MY PROFSNAL AND PERSONAL LIFE ARE NCERNED, THIS PROBABLY IS—NO, THIS IS—THE MOST GRATIFYG AND MEANGFUL CISN.” THAT IS, FRIDAY’S MARRIAGE LG.“BEE EVERY DAY,” OLSON NTUED, “I BUMP TO PEOPLE, AND PEOPLE E UP TO ME, OR I GET EMAIL MSAG AND PHONE MSAG. TODAY A PERSON LLED ME OM PHOENIX AND LEFT A VOICEMAIL MSAGE AND HE ULD BARELY GET THROUGH . HE WAS BREAKG UP, CRYG, TRYG TO SAY WHAT WILL HE TELL HIS DGHTER, 15 YEARS OM NOW, ABOUT HOW THERE WAS A TIME WHEN HER TWO DADDI ULDN’T GET MARRIED. FROM A PERSONAL STANDPOT, THE FACT THAT SO MANY PEOPLE’S LIV HAVE BEEN HELPED, A STIGMA HAS BEEN REMOVED—WELL, I N’T DO ANYTHG THAT BEATS THAT.”IT WAS A STARTLG DISPLAY OF BIPARTISANSHIP AFTER THE TOXILLY DIVISIVE EPISO OF BH V. GORE WHEN OLSON END UP JOG FORC WH DEMOCRATIC LEGAL EAGLE DAVID BOI, THE LAWYER WHO ARGUED ON THE LOSG SI FOR THE VICE PRINT BEFORE THE NATN’S HIGHT URT.THE TWO ERSTWHILE ANTAGONISTS TOILED TOGETHER THE SUCCSFUL FIGHT TO OVERTURN CALIFORNIA’S PROPOSN 8, WHICH 2008 VALIDATED ALREADY NDUCTED SAME-SEX MARRIAG AND CREATED A STATE NSTUTNAL AMENDMENT MAKG FUTURE SUCH MARRIAG ILLEGAL.“DAVID BOI WAS ENORMOLY FLUENTIAL,” OLSON SAID. “WE DISREGARD POLIL BOUNDARI—OR, BETTER, WE SPANNED POLIL DISAGREEMENTS—SO THAT THIS UNUAL BATN OF THE TWO BH-GORE ANTAGONISTS ULD REACH A RECEPTIVE DIENCE.”IN A WAY, WAS SUGGTED, OLSON AND BOI MIGHT BE SEEN AS THE LEWIS AND CLARK OF SOCIETAL EXPLORATN, PHG OUT TO THE ONTIERS OF SOCCULTURAL NORMS. “WELL,” OLSON JOKED, “AT LEAST YOU DIDN’T SAY ABBOTT AND COSTELLO.”THE TWO TEAMED UP FOR THE CALIFORNIA SE, SIGNED ON TO A SEND LAWSU VIRGIA, AND MEANWHILE MA UNTLS SPEECH AND MEDIA APPEARANC TO FLUENCE PUBLIC OPN, AS WELL AS VISS TO GAY-IENDLY FORTUNE 50 PANI LIKE GENERAL ELECTRIC, MICROSOFT AND GOLDMAN SACHS TO BRIEF EXECUTIV ON THE LEGAL AND PRACTIL IMPLITNS OF THEIR QUT FOR REFORM. POLLS SHOWED A RAPID SHIFT PUBLIC ATTUS; 2009, A MAJORY OPPOSED GAY MARRIAGE; TODAY A MAJORY FAVORS . “IT HAPPENED WH BREATHTAKG SPEED,” OLSON SAID.THEY ALSO FILED AN AMIC BRIEF THE SE BEFORE THE SUPREME COURT—A BRIEF THAT JTICE ANTHONY KENNEDY, THE THOR OF THE MAJORY OPN, SEEMS TO HAVE READ VERY REFULLY.“I DON’T KNOW WHETHER HIS OPN READ AN AWFUL LOT LIKE OUR BRIEF OR OUR BRIEF READ AN AWFUL LOT LIKE HIS WRGS,” OLSON SAID, AMG AS A CHICKEN-AND-EGG QUTN. KENNEDY, FOR STANCE, QUOTED LIBERALLY OM HARVARD PROFSOR NANCY COTT, THE EXPERT WNS BOI AND OLSON LLED THE CALIFORNIA SE TO EXPLA THE STUTNAL HISTORY OF MARRIAGE, AND, LIKE THEIR AMIC BRIEF, KENNEDY NOTED THE NECSARY SYNERGY BETWEEN THE NSTUTNAL PRCIPL OF DUE PROCS AND EQUAL PROTECTN. “OF URSE, WE HAD BEEN READG HIS PREV OPNS,” OLSON SAID, SUGGTG THAT SCE KENNEDY HAD LONG BEEN INTIFIED AS THE KEY VOTE, THEY HAD TAILORED THEIR ARGUMENTS TO AN DIENCE OF ONE. THERE HAS BEEN LOTS OF PUBLIC SPECULATN AS TO WHY OLSON WORKED SO PASSNATELY FOR THE E. SOME HAVE SUGGTED THAT HIS OWN 2006 MARRIAGE TO A DEMOCRATIC TAX LAWYER, LADY BOOTH, MIGHT HAVE PLAYED A ROLE. BUT WHILE HAD LONG BEEN BAKED TO HIS PARTY’S PLATFORM THAT GAY UNNS WERE ANATHEMA, OLSON APPARENTLY NEVER AGREED WH THE REPUBLIN ORTHODOXY DICTATED LARGELY BY THE PARTY’S CHRISTIAN NSERVATIVE WG.WRG THE DAILY BEAST, BH SPEECHWRER DAVID FM RELLED A FEBARY 2001 WASHGTON DNER PARTY AT WHICH THEN-SOLICOR GENERAL OLSON (AS HIS THEN-WIFE BARBARA, A NSERVATIVE PUND AND LAWYER, LISTENED SILENTLY AT THE TABLE) “ARGUED VERY PASSNATELY THAT GAYS WERE ENTLED TO EVERY RIGHT OF STRAIGHT AMERINS, AND DROVE HOME HIS POT BY EMIZG STANC OF ANTI-SEMIC DISCRIMATN THAT HE, A GENTILE, HAD BATTLED AT THE BEGNG OF HIS LEGAL REER.”FM NTUED: “THIS IS NO DIFFERENT, HE SISTED. NEAR THE END OF THE DISCSN, HE PREDICTED THAT THE UNTRY—AND EVERYBODY AT THE TABLE—WOULD E ROUND TO HIS VIEW SOONER OR LATER, PROBABLY SOONER.”SEVEN MONTHS LATER ON TED’S BIRTHDAY, SEPT. 11, BARBARA OLSON WAS KILLED ON THE LOS ANGEL-BOUND AMERIN AIRL FLIGHT THAT AL QAEDA TERRORISTS HIJACKED AND CRASHED TO THE PENTAGON. SHE HAD LLED HIM ON HER CELL PHONE OM THE DOOMED PLANE, TELLG HIM WHAT WAS HAPPENG. HE SPENT MANY MONTHS EP GRIEF.BUT FRIDAY MORNG WAS A WORLD APART. ALL WEEK LONG, OLSON WAS SO EXCED THAT THE SUPREME COURT WOULD WEIGH , FALLY, THAT HE AND LADY BOOTH ACTUALLY DROPPED BY THE MARBLED BUILDG ON MONDAY HOP THE CISN WAS ABOUT TO E DOWN.THIS MORNG, OLSON’S ASSISTANT FOLLOWED VELOPMENTS CLOSELY ON SCOTUSBLOG AND OLSON HAD HIS TELEVISN ON WHEN THE NEWS BROKE, THE SUPREM SPOKE, AND PANMONIUM EPTED ON THE URTHOE STEPS.“WHAT THE AMERIN PEOPLE SAW WERE PEOPLE EMBRACG, PEOPLE WERE EXUBERANTLY HAPPY,” OLSON SAID. “YOU N’T BE HUMAN AND NOT BE MOVED. YOU WANT TO EXULT THEIR HAPPS.”AS FOR OLSON, “LADY AND SOME OF OUR FEMALE PLATIFFS OM ANOTHER SE ARE ALL GOG TO MEET AT CAFé MILANO,” HE SAID, MENTNG A POPULAR HNT FOR WASHGTON SOCIAL SET. “WE’LL START DRKG VERY SOON.” LLOYD GROVE
• TED OLSON: SCOTUS HAS PASSED THE 'POT OF NO RETURN' ON GAY MARRIAGE
• TED OLSON: 'POT OF NO RETURN' ON GAY MARRIAGE PASSED
• DAVID BOI AND THEODORE OLSONIN ONE OF THE MOST UNLIKELY PARTNERSHIPS CIVIL-RIGHTS HISTORY, DAVID BOI AND TED OLSON TEAMED UP TO FIGHT CALIFORNIA’S BAN ON SAME-SEX MARRIAGE— ALL THE WAY TO THE SUPREME COURT. A YEAR AFTER THEIR VICTORY, WHICH THE SUPERLAWYERS HAVE CHRONICLED A NEW BOOK, LNEL BARBER RELLS WHAT BROUGHT THE POLIL OPPOS (AND OIME BATANTS) TOGETHER.BY LNEL BARBERPHOTOGRAPHY BY ANNIE LEIBOVZJUNE 17, 2014SAVE THIS STORYSAVESAVE THIS STORYSAVETHEY ARE AMERI’S ODD UPLE: TWO SUPERLAWYERS, ONE DEMOCRATIC, THE OTHER REPUBLIN, WHO TEAMED UP TO OVERTURN PROPOSN 8, CALIFORNIA’S BAN ON SAME-SEX MARRIAGE, A SUPREME COURT LG WHICH MA CIVIL-RIGHTS HISTORY.DAVID BOI AND THEODORE B. “TED” OLSON ARE LIVG PROOF THAT BIPARTISANSHIP IS NOT (YET) AD AND BURIED WASHGTON. BACK 2000, THEY FACED OFF BH V. GORE, WHICH CID THE ELECTN. NE YEARS LATER, THEY SET ASI THEIR PARTY ALLEGIANC FAVOR OF A MON PRCIPLE: THAT EQUAL RIGHTS FOR GAYS AND LBIANS TO MARRY WAS NOT A LIBERAL OR NSERVATIVE ISSUE. IT WAS A BASIC HUMAN-RIGHTS ISSUE.LAST SUMMER, I HEARD FIRSTHAND THE STORY OF THEIR UNLIKELY PARTNERSHIP. A GROUP OF WERE CISG OFF THE AMALFI AST, ONE OF THE MOST STUNNG SEASP THE MEDERRANEAN. GOOD WE (ANOTHER MON BOI-OLSON E) FLOWED; SO DID THE POST-LUNCH NVERSATN. A FELLOW PASSENGER PRODD TED TO TELL HIS STORY. WHY TED, NOT DAVID? BEE TED IS A TE NSERVATIVE, A FORMER SOLICOR GENERAL UNR GEE W. BH. HIS JOURNEY FENSE OF SAME-SEX MARRIAGE WAS NEVER GOG TO BE STRAIGHTFORWARD.TED SPOKE A RICH BARONE WHICH MAND ATTENTN. REPUBLIN IENDS FOUND HIS CISN HARD TO SWALLOW. HE HIMSELF HAD BEEN IALLY WARY—UNTIL HE MET ONE SAME-SEX UPLE PARTICULAR AND FELT THEIR PA THE FACE OF DISCRIMATN. HE ED THAT WORD, “PA,” SEVERAL TIM. I REMEMBER, TOO, HIS CLOSG ARGUMENT: “THE ARE PEOPLE WHO WANT TO PARTICIPATE LIFE AS CIZENS THE WAY THE RT OF DO.”DAVID’S ACUNT WAS MORE MATTER-OF-FACT: DISPASSNATE ANALYSIS MIXED WH REMORSELS LOGIC AND A FAMED IRON WILL. THIS IS THE MAN WHO OVERME DYSLEXIA TO BEE ONE OF THE TOP TRIAL LAWYERS THE UNTRY, THE SUCCSFUL FENR OF CBS THE WTMORELAND LIBEL SE, THE SURGE OF MICROSOFT, AND A NOTED PHILANTHROPIST, WHO HAS ENDOWED NE CHAIRS AT UNIVERSI OM N.Y.U. TO YALE.SOMEHOW DAVID AND TED HAVE FOUND TIME THEIR PACKED SCHL TO WRE THEIR STORY A NEW BOOK—REEMG THE DREAM: THE CASE FOR MARRIAGE EQUALY. (HBO’S DOCUMENTARY ON THE TRIAL, THE CASE AGAST 8, IS ALSO OUT THIS MONTH.)LAWYERS OFTEN GET A HARD TIME AMERI. BUT THE SE OF SAME-SEX MARRIAGE, SO LONG A TABOO, TWO DISTGUISHED ATTORNEYS TURNED OUT TO BE WAY AHEAD OF THE POLICIANS. THAT’S A TRIBUTE TO DAVID AND TED—AND TO THE VIBRANCY OF AMERIN MOCRACY.MOST POPULARJIMMY AND ROSALYNN CARTER ENTERG “FAL DAYS” HEALTH UPDATEBY JACK MCCORDICK25 PERFECT TV EPISOS FROM THE LAST 25 YEARSBY HILLARY BISRUDY GIULIANI: I HAVE “SCIENTIFIC EVINCE” THE 2020 ELECTN WAS STOLEN FROM DONALD TMPBY BS LEVLNEL BARBER
• FIVE (OR SO) QUTNS I PUT TO SUPERLAWYER TED OLSON ABOUT GAY MARRIAGE AND PROP 8
• TED OLSON: ‘POT OF NO RETURN’ ON GAY MARRIAGE PASSED
• THE CONSERVATIVE CASE FOR GAY MARRIAGE

TED OLSON, GAY MARRIAGE'S UNLIKELY LEGAL WARRR

Bh's solicor general, is now one of the lead lawyers tryg to overturn California's Proposn 8, which bans gay marriage.

Ted Olson's role as gay marriage advote has raised eyebrows on both the right and the left. On Monday, Olson will be feral urt reprentg those seekg to overturn California's ban on gay marriage, known as Proposn 8. Seeg Conservative Valu In Gay Marriage Olson says that for him, the se was a natural, and as he talked about , his ey repeatedly filled wh tears.

" Olson likens the discrimatn faced by gays and lbians to that experienced by racial mori. Homosexualy, Olson matas, is much like race. As for gay rights advot, after an ial hatn, they largely have weled Olson's help, but some do qutn his strategy.

THE SURPRISG REPUBLIN HERO OF SAME-SEX MARRIAGEUNEXPECTEDTED OLSON WAS AN UNLIKELY ALLY THE FIGHT AGAST CALIFORNIA’S PROP 8. BUT ALONG WH DAVID BOI, THE BH-ERA SOLICOR GENERAL PHED THE LAW TODAY’S DIRECTN.LLOYD GROVEUPDATED APR. 14, 2017 10:34AM EDT / PUBLISHED JUN. 26, 2015 9:40PM EDT ER SIEGAL/RXWASHGTON SUPERLAWYER TED OLSON IS A HAPPY MAN.“I N’T EVEN BEG TO SCRIBE HOW GOOD I FEEL FOR THE PEOPLE WHOSE LIV ARE AFFECTED A GOOD WAY,” HE TOLD THE DAILY BEAST ON FRIDAY, A FEW HOURS AFTER THE SUPREME COURT CLARED SAME-SEX MARRIAGE A NSTUTNAL RIGHT. “IT HAS BEEN AN EMOTNAL DAY. I FEEL JT ENORMOLY GRATIFIED AND MOVED AND TOUCHED, WH TEARS G TO MY EY, WATCHG THE PEOPLE’S JOY.”OLSON ADD: “THE AMERIN PEOPLE HAVE TO LOOK AT THIS AND SAY, ‘THIS IS A GOOD THG.’” NOW 74 AND A SENR PARTNER THE WHE-SHOE LAW FIRM OF GIBSON, DUNN & CTCHER, OLSON WAS ONE OF THE UNTRY’S MORE PROMENT NSERVATIVE REPUBLIN ACTIVISTS—AND TH AN EXTREMELY UNLIKELY GAY RIGHTS CHAMPN—WHEN HE SIGNED ON TO THE E 2009. IN HIS POLIL ROLE AS A BRAND RIGHT-WGER, OLSON HELPED FOUND THE FERALIST SOCIETY, AN FLUENTIAL GROUP OF NSERVATIVE AND LIBERTARIAN LAWYERS; SERVED ON THE BOARD OF THE AMERIN SPECTATOR MAGAZE; TORMENTED PRINT BILL CLTON AS AN ADVISOR TO PLA JON’S SEXUAL HARASSMENT LAWSU THAT ULTIMATELY RULTED CLTON’S IMPEACHMENT; AND HELPED PREPARE THE 2012 VICE PRINTIAL NOMEE, REP. PL RYAN, FOR HIS TELEVISED NONTATN WH VICE PRINT JOE BIN. (OLSON PLAYED BIN MOCK BAT.)SERVG REPUBLIN PRINTS, HE WAS A HIGH-RANKG OFFICIAL RONALD REAGAN’S JTICE DEPARTMENT AND YEARS LATER WAS SOLICOR GENERAL FOR GEE W. BH.UNTIL FRIDAY MORNG, OLSON WOULD LIKELY HAVE BEEN BT REMEMBERED AS THE MAN WHO ARGUED SUCCSFULLY BEFORE THE SUPREME COURT DECEMBER 2000—WH AMERI’S MOCRACY DISARRAY—THAT WAS TEXAS GOV. GEE W. BH, NOT VICE PRINT AL GORE, WHO HAD LEGIMATELY WON FLORIDA’S 25 ELECTORAL VOT AND TH THE WHE HOE, NEVER MD THE URT-ORRED REUNT SUPPOSEDLY PROGRSG THE SUNSHE STATE.“WELL,” OLSON SAID WH A LGH WHEN ASKED WHICH ACPLISHMENT HE’D NSIR HIS LEGACY—MAKG BH THE 43RD PRINT OR HELPG TO NATNALIZE SAME-SEX MARRIAGE. “I DON’T THK ABOUT MAKG A LEGACY OR THAT I MA ANYBODY PRINT. BUT AS FAR AS MY PROFSNAL AND PERSONAL LIFE ARE NCERNED, THIS PROBABLY IS—NO, THIS IS—THE MOST GRATIFYG AND MEANGFUL CISN.” THAT IS, FRIDAY’S MARRIAGE LG.“BEE EVERY DAY,” OLSON NTUED, “I BUMP TO PEOPLE, AND PEOPLE E UP TO ME, OR I GET EMAIL MSAG AND PHONE MSAG. TODAY A PERSON LLED ME OM PHOENIX AND LEFT A VOICEMAIL MSAGE AND HE ULD BARELY GET THROUGH . HE WAS BREAKG UP, CRYG, TRYG TO SAY WHAT WILL HE TELL HIS DGHTER, 15 YEARS OM NOW, ABOUT HOW THERE WAS A TIME WHEN HER TWO DADDI ULDN’T GET MARRIED. FROM A PERSONAL STANDPOT, THE FACT THAT SO MANY PEOPLE’S LIV HAVE BEEN HELPED, A STIGMA HAS BEEN REMOVED—WELL, I N’T DO ANYTHG THAT BEATS THAT.”IT WAS A STARTLG DISPLAY OF BIPARTISANSHIP AFTER THE TOXILLY DIVISIVE EPISO OF BH V. GORE WHEN OLSON END UP JOG FORC WH DEMOCRATIC LEGAL EAGLE DAVID BOI, THE LAWYER WHO ARGUED ON THE LOSG SI FOR THE VICE PRINT BEFORE THE NATN’S HIGHT URT.THE TWO ERSTWHILE ANTAGONISTS TOILED TOGETHER THE SUCCSFUL FIGHT TO OVERTURN CALIFORNIA’S PROPOSN 8, WHICH 2008 VALIDATED ALREADY NDUCTED SAME-SEX MARRIAG AND CREATED A STATE NSTUTNAL AMENDMENT MAKG FUTURE SUCH MARRIAG ILLEGAL.“DAVID BOI WAS ENORMOLY FLUENTIAL,” OLSON SAID. “WE DISREGARD POLIL BOUNDARI—OR, BETTER, WE SPANNED POLIL DISAGREEMENTS—SO THAT THIS UNUAL BATN OF THE TWO BH-GORE ANTAGONISTS ULD REACH A RECEPTIVE DIENCE.”IN A WAY, WAS SUGGTED, OLSON AND BOI MIGHT BE SEEN AS THE LEWIS AND CLARK OF SOCIETAL EXPLORATN, PHG OUT TO THE ONTIERS OF SOCCULTURAL NORMS. “WELL,” OLSON JOKED, “AT LEAST YOU DIDN’T SAY ABBOTT AND COSTELLO.”THE TWO TEAMED UP FOR THE CALIFORNIA SE, SIGNED ON TO A SEND LAWSU VIRGIA, AND MEANWHILE MA UNTLS SPEECH AND MEDIA APPEARANC TO FLUENCE PUBLIC OPN, AS WELL AS VISS TO GAY-IENDLY FORTUNE 50 PANI LIKE GENERAL ELECTRIC, MICROSOFT AND GOLDMAN SACHS TO BRIEF EXECUTIV ON THE LEGAL AND PRACTIL IMPLITNS OF THEIR QUT FOR REFORM. POLLS SHOWED A RAPID SHIFT PUBLIC ATTUS; 2009, A MAJORY OPPOSED GAY MARRIAGE; TODAY A MAJORY FAVORS . “IT HAPPENED WH BREATHTAKG SPEED,” OLSON SAID.THEY ALSO FILED AN AMIC BRIEF THE SE BEFORE THE SUPREME COURT—A BRIEF THAT JTICE ANTHONY KENNEDY, THE THOR OF THE MAJORY OPN, SEEMS TO HAVE READ VERY REFULLY.“I DON’T KNOW WHETHER HIS OPN READ AN AWFUL LOT LIKE OUR BRIEF OR OUR BRIEF READ AN AWFUL LOT LIKE HIS WRGS,” OLSON SAID, AMG AS A CHICKEN-AND-EGG QUTN. KENNEDY, FOR STANCE, QUOTED LIBERALLY OM HARVARD PROFSOR NANCY COTT, THE EXPERT WNS BOI AND OLSON LLED THE CALIFORNIA SE TO EXPLA THE STUTNAL HISTORY OF MARRIAGE, AND, LIKE THEIR AMIC BRIEF, KENNEDY NOTED THE NECSARY SYNERGY BETWEEN THE NSTUTNAL PRCIPL OF DUE PROCS AND EQUAL PROTECTN. “OF URSE, WE HAD BEEN READG HIS PREV OPNS,” OLSON SAID, SUGGTG THAT SCE KENNEDY HAD LONG BEEN INTIFIED AS THE KEY VOTE, THEY HAD TAILORED THEIR ARGUMENTS TO AN DIENCE OF ONE. THERE HAS BEEN LOTS OF PUBLIC SPECULATN AS TO WHY OLSON WORKED SO PASSNATELY FOR THE E. SOME HAVE SUGGTED THAT HIS OWN 2006 MARRIAGE TO A DEMOCRATIC TAX LAWYER, LADY BOOTH, MIGHT HAVE PLAYED A ROLE. BUT WHILE HAD LONG BEEN BAKED TO HIS PARTY’S PLATFORM THAT GAY UNNS WERE ANATHEMA, OLSON APPARENTLY NEVER AGREED WH THE REPUBLIN ORTHODOXY DICTATED LARGELY BY THE PARTY’S CHRISTIAN NSERVATIVE WG.WRG THE DAILY BEAST, BH SPEECHWRER DAVID FM RELLED A FEBARY 2001 WASHGTON DNER PARTY AT WHICH THEN-SOLICOR GENERAL OLSON (AS HIS THEN-WIFE BARBARA, A NSERVATIVE PUND AND LAWYER, LISTENED SILENTLY AT THE TABLE) “ARGUED VERY PASSNATELY THAT GAYS WERE ENTLED TO EVERY RIGHT OF STRAIGHT AMERINS, AND DROVE HOME HIS POT BY EMIZG STANC OF ANTI-SEMIC DISCRIMATN THAT HE, A GENTILE, HAD BATTLED AT THE BEGNG OF HIS LEGAL REER.”FM NTUED: “THIS IS NO DIFFERENT, HE SISTED. NEAR THE END OF THE DISCSN, HE PREDICTED THAT THE UNTRY—AND EVERYBODY AT THE TABLE—WOULD E ROUND TO HIS VIEW SOONER OR LATER, PROBABLY SOONER.”SEVEN MONTHS LATER ON TED’S BIRTHDAY, SEPT. 11, BARBARA OLSON WAS KILLED ON THE LOS ANGEL-BOUND AMERIN AIRL FLIGHT THAT AL QAEDA TERRORISTS HIJACKED AND CRASHED TO THE PENTAGON. SHE HAD LLED HIM ON HER CELL PHONE OM THE DOOMED PLANE, TELLG HIM WHAT WAS HAPPENG. HE SPENT MANY MONTHS EP GRIEF.BUT FRIDAY MORNG WAS A WORLD APART. ALL WEEK LONG, OLSON WAS SO EXCED THAT THE SUPREME COURT WOULD WEIGH , FALLY, THAT HE AND LADY BOOTH ACTUALLY DROPPED BY THE MARBLED BUILDG ON MONDAY HOP THE CISN WAS ABOUT TO E DOWN.THIS MORNG, OLSON’S ASSISTANT FOLLOWED VELOPMENTS CLOSELY ON SCOTUSBLOG AND OLSON HAD HIS TELEVISN ON WHEN THE NEWS BROKE, THE SUPREM SPOKE, AND PANMONIUM EPTED ON THE URTHOE STEPS.“WHAT THE AMERIN PEOPLE SAW WERE PEOPLE EMBRACG, PEOPLE WERE EXUBERANTLY HAPPY,” OLSON SAID. “YOU N’T BE HUMAN AND NOT BE MOVED. YOU WANT TO EXULT THEIR HAPPS.”AS FOR OLSON, “LADY AND SOME OF OUR FEMALE PLATIFFS OM ANOTHER SE ARE ALL GOG TO MEET AT CAFé MILANO,” HE SAID, MENTNG A POPULAR HNT FOR WASHGTON SOCIAL SET. “WE’LL START DRKG VERY SOON.” LLOYD GROVE

Ironilly, Karlan's observatn mirrors, to some gree, the pot ma by Olson's nservative crics, who argue that if gays and lbians want marriage, they should get state legislatur to approve . He says he has no relativ who are gay, though certaly he has iends. ’”Now 74 and a senr partner the whe-shoe law firm of Gibson, Dunn & Ctcher, Olson was one of the untry’s more proment nservative Republin activists—and th an extremely unlikely gay rights champn—when he signed on to the e his polil role as a brand right-wger, Olson helped found the Feralist Society, an fluential group of nservative and libertarian lawyers; served on the board of the Amerin Spectator magaze; tormented Print Bill Clton as an advisor to Pla Jon’s sexual harassment lawsu that ultimately rulted Clton’s impeachment; and helped prepare the 2012 Vice Printial nomee, Rep.

”The two teamed up for the California se, signed on to a send lawsu Virgia, and meanwhile ma untls speech and media appearanc to fluence public opn, as well as viss to gay-iendly Fortune 50 pani like General Electric, Microsoft and Goldman Sachs to brief executiv on the legal and practil implitns of their qut for reform.

TED OLSON: SCOTUS HAS PASSED THE 'POT OF NO RETURN' ON GAY MARRIAGE

Polls showed a rapid shift public attus; 2009, a majory opposed gay marriage; today a majory favors .

But while had long been baked to his party’s platform that gay unns were anathema, Olson apparently never agreed wh the Republin orthodoxy dictated largely by the party’s Christian nservative wg. Wrg The Daily Beast, Bh speechwrer David Fm relled a Febary 2001 Washgton dner party at which then-Solicor General Olson (as his then-wife Barbara, a nservative pund and lawyer, listened silently at the table) “argued very passnately that gays were entled to every right of straight Amerins, and drove home his pot by emizg stanc of anti-Semic discrimatn that he, a Gentile, had battled at the begng of his legal reer. ”This month, the high urt let stand whout explanatn appeals urt lgs permtg gay marriage five stat.

”Wag for the procs lower urts to open the door to gay marriage all 50 stat “would not be good enough bee ’s not now, ” Olson said. ”Given his Republin crentials, Olson has been an unlikely champn the gay-marriage movement. Two-thirds of Amerins now live stat that allow gay marriage.

TED OLSON: 'POT OF NO RETURN' ON GAY MARRIAGE PASSED

” But he adds that his work on gay marriage “is the legal acplishment that I thk will always mean the most to me. No part of this transmissn may be reproduced whout wrten You GoGay Marriage SignsPopular the CommunyYou May Like. "This month, the high urt let stand whout explanatn appeals urt lgs permtg gay marriage five stat.

DAVID BOI AND THEODORE OLSONIN ONE OF THE MOST UNLIKELY PARTNERSHIPS CIVIL-RIGHTS HISTORY, DAVID BOI AND TED OLSON TEAMED UP TO FIGHT CALIFORNIA’S BAN ON SAME-SEX MARRIAGE— ALL THE WAY TO THE SUPREME COURT. A YEAR AFTER THEIR VICTORY, WHICH THE SUPERLAWYERS HAVE CHRONICLED A NEW BOOK, LNEL BARBER RELLS WHAT BROUGHT THE POLIL OPPOS (AND OIME BATANTS) TOGETHER.BY LNEL BARBERPHOTOGRAPHY BY ANNIE LEIBOVZJUNE 17, 2014SAVE THIS STORYSAVESAVE THIS STORYSAVETHEY ARE AMERI’S ODD UPLE: TWO SUPERLAWYERS, ONE DEMOCRATIC, THE OTHER REPUBLIN, WHO TEAMED UP TO OVERTURN PROPOSN 8, CALIFORNIA’S BAN ON SAME-SEX MARRIAGE, A SUPREME COURT LG WHICH MA CIVIL-RIGHTS HISTORY.DAVID BOI AND THEODORE B. “TED” OLSON ARE LIVG PROOF THAT BIPARTISANSHIP IS NOT (YET) AD AND BURIED WASHGTON. BACK 2000, THEY FACED OFF BH V. GORE, WHICH CID THE ELECTN. NE YEARS LATER, THEY SET ASI THEIR PARTY ALLEGIANC FAVOR OF A MON PRCIPLE: THAT EQUAL RIGHTS FOR GAYS AND LBIANS TO MARRY WAS NOT A LIBERAL OR NSERVATIVE ISSUE. IT WAS A BASIC HUMAN-RIGHTS ISSUE.LAST SUMMER, I HEARD FIRSTHAND THE STORY OF THEIR UNLIKELY PARTNERSHIP. A GROUP OF WERE CISG OFF THE AMALFI AST, ONE OF THE MOST STUNNG SEASP THE MEDERRANEAN. GOOD WE (ANOTHER MON BOI-OLSON E) FLOWED; SO DID THE POST-LUNCH NVERSATN. A FELLOW PASSENGER PRODD TED TO TELL HIS STORY. WHY TED, NOT DAVID? BEE TED IS A TE NSERVATIVE, A FORMER SOLICOR GENERAL UNR GEE W. BH. HIS JOURNEY FENSE OF SAME-SEX MARRIAGE WAS NEVER GOG TO BE STRAIGHTFORWARD.TED SPOKE A RICH BARONE WHICH MAND ATTENTN. REPUBLIN IENDS FOUND HIS CISN HARD TO SWALLOW. HE HIMSELF HAD BEEN IALLY WARY—UNTIL HE MET ONE SAME-SEX UPLE PARTICULAR AND FELT THEIR PA THE FACE OF DISCRIMATN. HE ED THAT WORD, “PA,” SEVERAL TIM. I REMEMBER, TOO, HIS CLOSG ARGUMENT: “THE ARE PEOPLE WHO WANT TO PARTICIPATE LIFE AS CIZENS THE WAY THE RT OF DO.”DAVID’S ACUNT WAS MORE MATTER-OF-FACT: DISPASSNATE ANALYSIS MIXED WH REMORSELS LOGIC AND A FAMED IRON WILL. THIS IS THE MAN WHO OVERME DYSLEXIA TO BEE ONE OF THE TOP TRIAL LAWYERS THE UNTRY, THE SUCCSFUL FENR OF CBS THE WTMORELAND LIBEL SE, THE SURGE OF MICROSOFT, AND A NOTED PHILANTHROPIST, WHO HAS ENDOWED NE CHAIRS AT UNIVERSI OM N.Y.U. TO YALE.SOMEHOW DAVID AND TED HAVE FOUND TIME THEIR PACKED SCHL TO WRE THEIR STORY A NEW BOOK—REEMG THE DREAM: THE CASE FOR MARRIAGE EQUALY. (HBO’S DOCUMENTARY ON THE TRIAL, THE CASE AGAST 8, IS ALSO OUT THIS MONTH.)LAWYERS OFTEN GET A HARD TIME AMERI. BUT THE SE OF SAME-SEX MARRIAGE, SO LONG A TABOO, TWO DISTGUISHED ATTORNEYS TURNED OUT TO BE WAY AHEAD OF THE POLICIANS. THAT’S A TRIBUTE TO DAVID AND TED—AND TO THE VIBRANCY OF AMERIN MOCRACY.MOST POPULARJIMMY AND ROSALYNN CARTER ENTERG “FAL DAYS” HEALTH UPDATEBY JACK MCCORDICK25 PERFECT TV EPISOS FROM THE LAST 25 YEARSBY HILLARY BISRUDY GIULIANI: I HAVE “SCIENTIFIC EVINCE” THE 2020 ELECTN WAS STOLEN FROM DONALD TMPBY BS LEVLNEL BARBER

"Wag for the procs lower urts to open the door to gay marriage all 50 stat "would not be good enough bee 's not now, " Olson said on USA TODAY's weekly vio newsmaker seri. "Given his Republin crentials, Olson has been an unlikely champn the gay-marriage movement. " But he adds that his work on gay marriage "is the legal acplishment that I thk will always mean the most to me.

Ne years later, they set asi their party allegianc favor of a mon prciple: that equal rights for gays and lbians to marry was not a liberal or nservative issue. In this se, Rosky said, the urt had to addrs the fn of marriage and said homosexual upl n be nsired married.

FIVE (OR SO) QUTNS I PUT TO SUPERLAWYER TED OLSON ABOUT GAY MARRIAGE AND PROP 8

Until recent s, some experts told , the urt likely assumed that when they said "marriage, " others would terpret that as meang a heterosexual unn, not a homosexual one, due to societal norms.

Ullman, Jtice John Harlan argued that "although the right to privacy protected rights of maral upl, did not protect rights of homosexuals. New York Tim, "Supreme Court Bolsters Gay Marriage Wh Two Major Rulgs, " June 26, 2013. New York Tim, "Supreme Court to Deci Marriage Rights for Gay Coupl Natnwi, " Jan.

I too cricized Becker not only for ignorg grassroots and roots activists the fight but for makg the Prop 8 se seem so pivotal when fact was the se of Edie Wdsor and the strikg down of the Defense of Marriage Act that has led to feral judg lg state gay-marriage bans unnstutnal almost every week. Another qutn people are wonrg about: Olson and Boi, still wh AFER, joed a se challengg Virgia's gay-marriage ban, and they prevailed when was led unnstutnal last Febary.

TED OLSON: ‘POT OF NO RETURN’ ON GAY MARRIAGE PASSED

Of urse, Olson and Boi had hoped that the urt would do so and strike down all gay-marriage bans across the untry (though they still see as a big w that the lower urt lg stood, returng marriage equaly to California). How do you see this issue movg forward when so much of the nservative base of the party, the relig base of the party, is still opposed to gay marriage?

THE CONSERVATIVE CASE FOR GAY MARRIAGE

But Nathaniel Frank reviewed the book on Slate, and he feels that your book still do not give the cred to the history before, and that you're cril of the crementalist approach of the gay advot at Lambda Legal and Gay and Lbian Advot and Defenrs, who were wng s the stat, and that their plan, he says, was to eventually move to the feral level. Attorney Ted Olson discs his book on gay marriage, and cricism of the book's take on LGBT history, on Siri do agree that the Defense of Marriage Act se, the Wdsor se, really was enormoly pivotal? [I] wanted to get your thoughts on that, bee Roberta Kaplan has always talked about that se as very much about gay rights, not jt a narrow tax issue, but the way that Becker scribed , [Kaplan] ma narrow and you really ma the se wh Prop 8 that nvced the jtic on, I agree that Robbie Kaplan did a fabulo job.