quite on point.

[novapsyche]

When the California Supreme Court became the first to strike down race discrimination in marriage (by a 4-3 vote, much like the 2003 Massachusetts ruling ending sex discrimination in marriage), polls showed 90% of the public opposed marriage equality for interracial couples. As late as 1967, when the U.S. Supreme Court finally made the same ruling nationwide, the polls showed 70% opposed. We need to ask Americans to imagine the injury to our nation if the opposition had prevailed with arguments like "let the people vote" or attacks on "activist judges," and had written discrimination into our Constitution.

http://discuss.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/zforum/04/wolfson071404.htm