In the context of the equal protection clause in particular, this will be, by definition, anti-majoritarian. Courts must, as part of their job description, sometimes be asked to decide whether the majority is giving itself legal advantages that it is denying to a minority. Sometimes that can be justified, sometimes not. It all depends on the evidence and the reasons offered. If the court's reasoning is faulty, we'll have it before us to criticize, and possibly correct at a higher court, or over time as we refine our thinking. And as a public document, anyone is free to offer their insights about how the court reached its decision.

That is what we will all be able to do with this public trial - follow the testimony and evidence and argument for ourselves, and when the judge makes his decision, agree or disagree. Rhetoric is not enough, nor are television and radio ads, nor insinuations. The political tools that have served the anti-marriage side so well now need to be supplemented with real, assessable reasons.