Over a hundred million dollars have been poured into the campaign for same-sex marriage, as part of a broader attempt to legitimize a lifestyle and censor criticism. Supporters of same-sex marriage were instrumental in nominating and electing Barack Obama as President, and since then same-sex marriage has become law in Iowa and Connecticut, and could soon become effective in Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine.

Is the game over, with victory to the same-sex marriage advocates? Far from it, as the window of opportunity for this gimmick is closing on the same-sex campaign faster than its rate of success.

On August 24, a federal court dismissed a challenge to the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), the federal law ensuring that the United States government and tax system recognize marriage as being between only a man and a woman, and that no state need recognize a same-sex marriage performed in another state. Smelt v. United States. As long as DOMA remains good law, same-sex marriage can be nothing more than an oddity in a few liberal states. Despite promising otherwise, President Obama has not yet lifted a finger to repeal DOMA.

So liberals turned to judicial supremacy to overturn this law, and the court just said no. Plaintiffs who obtained a same-sex marriage in California during the brief time it was legal there, before passage of Proposition 8, filed a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of DOMA. The court dismissed the case on procedural grounds, finding that it lacked jurisdiction to decide plaintiffs’ claims. Meanwhile, pro-traditional marriage organizations such as the National Organization for Marriage (NOM) (which helped pass Proposition 8 in California) are stepping up support for traditional marriage. In Iowa, NOM is endorsing candidates and running ad campaigns to help put this issue before the voters, in order to overturn the state Supreme Court decision that legalized gay marriage there. Brian Brown, executive director of NOM, believes that the court decision mandating same-sex marriage in Iowa went against the will of the people: “Iowa is important” he said, “because the Supreme Court decision was so against the will of the people ….” A ballot initiative may not occur there until 2014, but legislative victories could occur before then.