“Cato has consistently embraced civil liberties, including but not limited to the right to same-sex marriage. By contrast, conservatives – with whom we are mistakenly equated – have been selective in their endorsement of personal freedom.”

— Cato Institute Chairman Robert A. Levy

A new HBO documentary, The Case Against 8, takes a behind-the-scenes look at Proposition 8 and the case to overturn California’s ban on same-sex marriage. Unfortunately, when it comes to libertarianism, they don’t quite get it right.

The film focuses on Ted Olson and David Boies, political foes who faced off as opposing attorneys in Bush v. Gore, yet fought on the same side in first federal marriage equality lawsuit to reach the U.S. Supreme Court.

In one scene, Chad Griffin, then Board President of the American Foundation for Equal Rights, discusses the battle for gay rights with Olson. Griffin suggests, in an ill-conceived attempt at humor, that he might re-think his support for same-sex marriage after hearing that both Cato and its chairman, Robert A. Levy, are vocal advocates for marriage equality.

Responding to the film, Levy points out that the filmmakers have made the all-too-common mistake of conflating libertarians with conservatives. But, marriage equality is just one of many issues where the libertarian perspective is much closer to the liberal stance than the conservative one.

The reason for this, according to Levy, is that both conservatives and liberals are philosophically inconsistent. While conservatives want smaller government in the fiscal sphere, they demand bigger government in the social and foreign policy realms. Meanwhile, liberals want less government control of their personal lives, but more government oversight over markets.

“Unlike liberals and conservatives, Cato scholars have a consistent, minimalist view of the proper role of government,” writes Levy. “We want government out of our wallets, out of our bedrooms, and out of foreign entanglements unless America’s vital interests are at stake.”

Read the rest of his commentary here…