This Article I Believe Explains

just why same-sex marriage is such a loser, whether it is in the legislature or in the courts, the latter at least as a way to force it nationwide.

It's NEVER going to happen. The USSC signals an omen:

The U.S. Supreme Court cast its first vote last week on the legal challenge to California's voter initiative barring same-sex marriage, and some experts said it was a bad omen for those who hope gays and lesbians will win a constitutional right to such unions.

The 5-4 decision, with conservatives in the majority, intervened in the San Francisco district court trial on behalf of the defenders of Proposition 8.

The high court rebuked U.S. District Chief Judge Vaughn Walker for seeking to give the public a chance to view the proceedings on the Internet. In its opinion, the majority saw the dispute through the same lens as the opponents of gay marriage and decided that they -- not homosexuals -- faced a hostile public climate of harassment and intimidation.

I think it is a clear warning from the high court this thing is going to be pitched out if the issue goes that far.

More:

Several California law professors who said they supported gay rights worried about a 9th Circuit ruling that broadly endorsed same-sex marriage.

"The worst-case scenario is a 9th Circuit ruling in favor of the plaintiffs. That will force the Supreme Court's hand, and it will lead to a bad precedent," said Vikram Amar, a law professor at UC Davis and a former court clerk. "I don't see the five justices to affirm that. There may not be two or three even."

Currently, he said, gay marriage is the law in Iowa and in parts of New England, and "I don't see Anthony Kennedy viewing that as the national norm."

There might not be any who would affirm it. Opposition to same-sex marriage isn't just confined to the religious right although that group is the most vocal.