Place a conservative commentator on the spot, and you're likely to get them to say the darndest things. Case in point, NY Times conservative columnist Ross Douthat was a featured speaker at an n+1 panel in New York last night, and he was asked about the issue of gay marriage. His reaction?

Conservative opposition to gay marriage is a losing argument.

Douthat himself does not get all warm and fuzzy about the idea of gays and lesbians marrying. He opposes same-sex marriage on religious grounds. But he's also wise enough to know that his line of thinking isn't where the arc of this country's history is heading. Opposing gay marriage now is almost like opposing the repeal of Jim Crow laws fifty years ago. Eventually the court of public opinion is going to decide this matter, and the court of public opinion belongs to advocates of marriage equality.

Douthat also spoke with the Observer after the n+1 event, and added that if he were a betting man, he wouldn't be betting against gay marriage.

"The secular arguments against gay marriage, when they aren't just based on bigotry or custom, tend to be abstract in ways that don't find purchase in American political discourse. I say, ‘Institutional support for reproduction,' you say, ‘I love my boyfriend and I want to marry him.' Who wins that debate? You win that debate," said Douthat. "If I were putting money on the future of gay marriage, I would bet on it."

Another conservative has come around that marriage equality is a matter of "when," not "if." Maybe part of that "when" happens this November in Maine, if gay rights supporters can make the state the first to fight back against a ballot measure that bashes gay marriage.

(Photo courtesy of Pinguino's photostream on Flickr.)