A poll conducted this month for Vanderbilt University found that 49 percent of Tennesseans support gay marriage or civil unions while 46 percent are opposed to both, suggesting the state is now evenly divided on whether to extend legal recognition to same-sex couples. Meanwhile, 62 percent of Tennesseans say health insurance and other employee benefits should be extended to the domestic partners or spouses of gays and lesbians. Thirty-one percent oppose the idea.

It's going to take a while, but the trends are clear When the homophobes have lost even deep-red places like Tennessee, there's not much left for them. It also makes House Republican efforts to prop up the Defense of Marriage Act, which arbitrarily denies benefits to same-sex couples, look even more ridiculous.