Support for Gay Marriage Hits a New Milestone

May 23, 2011

For the first time ever, support for gay marriage (and the rights that come with it) is in the majority. According to Gallup:

Andrew Sullivan puts this in context:

To go from 41 points behind to 8 points ahead in a decade and a half must count as one of the most successful political and social campaigns in history.

I also see this as a rebuke to those Evangelical Christians and other religious groups who have done everything in their power to be an obstacle to progress. As they continue to fight against civil rights, they’re losing their power.

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What Are Your Thoughts?leave a comment

SlipperyWhenWet

That’s fantastic news!
Heidi

Hey, Evangelicals, do you still think the majority should decide civil rights issues?
PJB863

As far as a trend, this is, of course, encouraging. The place where it gets tricky is when the civil marriage rights of LGBT folks are placed on a ballot. These ballot questions don’t start out with, “Do you think marriages between homosexuals……” The are couched in more sterile terms, removing the human factor from the equation. Here’s the text of Proposition 8 from California:

Section I. Title

This measure shall be known and may be cited as the “California Marriage Protection Act.”
Section 2. Article I. Section 7.5 is added to the California Constitution. to read:
Sec. 7.5. Only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California.

It doesn’t even mention LGBT people!

Of course, the real issue is why anyone’s right to marry is being placed on a ballot in the first place.
ChristopherTK

Yes, this poll can be taken as a good sign but goods signs don’t mean reasonable laws. These polls mean little when they don’t include the power of the voting public.
MikeW

I’m a Minnesotan and I’m extremely embarrassed that the people who are supposed to be representing me have even created the potential for a constitutional ban on gay marriage. It’s clearly a Republican move to encourage more voting by their base in the next presidential election. At the same time, with trends like these, I actually have hope that the amendment will be defeated and subsequently hurt the representatives’ chances of being re-elected.

A man can dream…
mandydax

I agree that it’s a good sign that opinion is changing in this way. Still, human rights shouldn’t be subject to public opinion. I really hope that the MN amendment gets completely crushed, but the mere fact that it’s even a question is sad.
DocShinobi

45% still seems like a high number to me. I mean, that’s almost HALF of the people polled who have a draconian burr up their collective theist ass!
Richard Wade

Keep it up, evangelicals. This single bigotry is responsible for a large portion of the losses in your ranks.

The dinosaurs couldn’t change at the end either.
CanadianNihilist

Good for them. If this keeps up maybe Gay people will be allowed to walk on the same sidewalk as us, and drink from our water fountains as well.
April

We owe it all to the popularity of Glee :-/
hoverfrog

We really need to see this on a swingometer with Peter Snow presenting. Give it another 30 years at this rate and the anti-equality trend will be scrapping the barrel for support…I hope.
Canthinkofone

Many people find the term LGBT exclusive and offensive:

http://www.thescavenger.net/glbsgdq.html

So please start using “GLB(ISGD)Q” or you will be perpetuating a heteronormative culture.
Ben

I believe in Australia we have had 60/70% support for gay marriage for quite some time, but it’s still not legal for some reason…
Larry Meredith

In addition to sampling error, question wording and practical difficulties in conducting surveys can introduce error or bias into the findings of public opinion polls.

1996-2005 had “homosexuals” in the question instead of what it is now, “same-sex couples”

Is it possible that small change helped shift the polls?
Maybe some people are more comfortable with “same-sex couples” than the word “homosexual”
thebigJ_A

@Larry Meredith

I thought the same at first, but look at the chart. If it were the change in wording, you’d see a jump in ’06, but there isn’t. 2006 is at 42%, the same as 2004. The rise is more gradual.

I like to think that my own state, Massachusetts, has something to do with it. Contrary to popular (evangelical) belief, we haven’t been struck down by god, washed into the sea, or all turned into bestiality practitioners since we allowed people their fundamental human rights. So maybe it ain’t so bad (they might be thinking).
MaryD

But why would anyone want to get married? Haven’t ‘trendy liberals/marxists’ been trying to destroy this institution for decades now?

None of this has got anything to do with ‘equality’ it is just part of the marxist doctrine to destroy society as we know it.
crowepps

I give the credit for the change to those brave gays who took the risk of leaving the safety of the closet and became the ‘public face of gay’ to their family, friends and coworkers. There’s a discernable difference between ‘should homosexuals be allowed to’ and ‘should Tim in accounting who has an irish setter like mine be allowed to’.
hoverfrog

@crowepps Tim in accounting is gay? So that’s why he never dates women.
jose

I like to believe evangelical crazies are doing positive work for civil rights. They look so bad when they say those things that they are actually anti-convincing. People look at them and say “gosh, do I sound like that too? Maybe I should reconsider.”
ckitching

None of this has got anything to do with ‘equality’ it is just part of the marxist doctrine to destroy society as we know it.

Wow. How trollish. I like how you equated liberal with Marxist, as if they were in any way similar. The only thing you left out was calling liberals Nazis. You’ll have to include that next time.
Tom

Let’s hope the same people who answered the poll saying they support same-sex marriage are actually voters. That’s one problem with polls about this sort of thing.
Danny

Now that opponents of gay marriage are in the minority, should we treat them as they seem to think minorities should be treated?
The Godless Monster

@Danny,

Now that opponents of gay marriage are in the minority, should we treat them as they seem to think minorities should be treated?

No, ammo is way too expensive.
Saltyestelle

Closer and closer….. happily, even if the same people polled aren’t the same people voting, voters will read the statistic and be more likely to go along with the new norm of supporting equal rights. If I have learned nothing else in my studies of psychology, it’s that most people have a very strong need to fit in with the norm. So shout it from the rooftops! Most people now support same-sex marriage!!!
Dan

Focus on the Family CEO: We ‘probably lost’ fight against same sex marriage

“We’ve probably lost that. I don’t want to be extremist here, but I think we need to start calculating where we are in the culture.”
– Jim Daly, president and CEO of Focus on the Family
Rebecca Rose

Now we just have to get the republicans to actually represent their constituents, and quit trying to shove their anti-gay laws down our throats.

“It’s wrong — it’s absolutely wrong! — for your religious view
To restrict the lives of others. (You know, the Taliban does that too.)”

Read full poem here.
Stogoe

@crowepps Tim in accounting is gay? So that’s why he never dates women.

Does he date men, though? Maybe he’s just bewildered and flabbergasted by the whole enterprise. Not dating opposite gender =/= attracted to same gender.
Jena

@Canthinkofone- instead of trying to find a label that fits everybody (which, from my pov, is impossible) how about we just use “NHN” (non-heteronormative)? I volunteer for the LGBT Center in a major city in the U.S. and the idea that our center is open to EVERYONE (even heteronormative people,*gasp!*) is just sort of understood. I’ve never seen anyone get their knickers in a big twist over it.
Jena

Actually, I just double-checked: we’re technically the Gay and Lesbian Center which means I’m technically excluded too! And I’ll deal, because the challenges we are faced with are more important than using the most current PC acronym. Let’s not turn this into “us vs them” more than it already is.
DW

Everyone knows the trends. Attrition alone will solve many of our social ills, if we can hold out. Just think, every minute another gay-hating, Rapture-awaiting, Rush-listening, Obama-bashing, Fox-loving, conspiracy-believing, Christian-professing SOB dies somewhere in our beloved country. Have you noticed how many of the real bastards are OLD. Minds don’t get changed among Americans as much as old ideas just die with their believers.
Robster

Jees, you’d think with gawd on their side that the figures would better reflect the wishes of the bigoted, hate filled christians. It would suggest yet again that their god is a wishful figment of a cave dwelling idiot’s imagination.

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