This post was submitted by Regan, who is interested in covering legal issues for TNG.

Gay couples celebrate marriage rights with high-fives in San Jose.

The reality of the California same-sex marriage ruling hit me Tuesday when I was browsing pictures from ceremonies across California and saw my high school calculus teacher and his partner of 19 years tying the knot. Wow, I thought, this is really happening. Finally.

It’s been an emotional past few days, but, all in all, Tuesday turned out to be far more tame than many ever imagined.

A friend of mine went to the County Administration Center in San Diego to support couples getting their marriage licenses, and, he confessed, to make sure any anti-marriage protesters didn’t go unanswered. He texted me at around 10:30 in the morning; apparently, it was “pretty uneventful…”

That seemed to be the scene across California. As the San Jose Mercury News put it, “a historic, yet ‘subdued’ day.” No exchanging vows in rainbow thongs or people lining up to marry a dog, a tree, three men. No lunatic protesters going batshit crazy and doing anything seriously harmful. Just, well, a lot of happy couples.

That’s not to say the day wasn’t without its share of rainbow flags or protesters from the Westboro Baptist Church. But the protests and celebrations alike were remarkably subdued.

Why? Isn’t this the next clash of civilizations? The watershed event of the century? Shouldn’t we be expecting a little something more?

Well, maybe not. I wondered in my last post what impact same-sex marriages would have on the November ballot initiative in California, and whether same-sex couples might change their behaviors based on the chance their actions might impact the vote.

And it looks like I’m not the only one thinking that way. A recent joint press release by nine LGBT advocacy organizations urged gays to “make change, not lawsuits.”

In short, get married if you’re ready, but don’t go suing state or federal governments right away in an attempt to get federal benefits or bring marriage equality to your home state. The organizations ask couples to wait so the organizations can coalesce and attack the issue in an organized, politically-planned fashion will increase the chance of gaining long-term equality.

From the other side of the debate as well, groups against same-sex marriage urged their followers to refrain from making outlandish protests that could turn the public against them in the November ballot initiative. Ron Prentice, chairman of ProtectMarriage.com, said in an email that “fierce protests and hostile demonstrations” would be a “trap” that would turn voters against them in November. He urged supporters to focus on the long-term goal of passing the ballot initiative re-defining marriage as between one man and one woman.

So, as crazy as it might be, for once in this volatile and highly emotional debate, both sides seem to be thinking politics. Which to me makes perfect sense. Equality has been and will remain a long, hard struggle, and we have to think about our actions in terms of the long term legal, political, and cultural fight that it is, and not in terms of short-term gratification.

I’m not saying same-sex couples shouldn’t get married in California, or even that they shouldn’t do it while wearing nothing but body paint and rainbow glitter. I just think a little discretion can go a long way (especially in an election year).