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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsMajor survey shows clear majority of Americans support marriage equality
WASHINGTON In the late 1980s, support for same-sex marriage was essentially unheard of in America. Just a quarter century later, its now favored by clear majority of Americans.
That dramatic shift in opinion is among the fastest changes ever measured by the General Social Survey, a comprehensive and widely respected survey that has measured trends on a huge array of American attitudes for more than four decades.
Support for a right of same-sex couples to marry has risen 8 percentage points in the past two years and jumped 45 points since the question was first asked in 1988, when only 11 percent of Americans said they agreed with the idea. The survey now finds that only a third of Americans are opposed to gay marriage.
The largest shift in support since 2012 has come among Republicans, just under half of whom 45 percent now support marriage rights for same-sex couples. Thats a jump of 14 percentage points since 2012.
Many things dont change a lot. Most things change very slowly, said Tom W. Smith, director of the General Social Survey. This is one of the most impressive changes weve measured.
Read More http://www.lgbtqnation.com/2015/03/major-survey-shows-clear-majority-of-americans-support-marriage-equality/
shenmue
(38,503 posts)Spazito
(49,765 posts)The rabid homophobes are fast becoming an anathema to the American public, it is wonderful to see.
hifiguy
(33,688 posts)I think when LGBT people began coming out, the straight majority was stunned to learn that a friend, work colleague, brother, sister, niece, nephew, cousin or child - someone they truly cared for and about - was LGBT, that the stigma began to melt among all but the most hidebound and simple-minded jebus-wheezers.
This is one of the most welcome and amazing turnabouts I have seen in my life.
NanceGreggs
(27,813 posts)... I think that shift came about because people who were told repeatedly, by Republicans and clerics, that their own marriage would somehow be impacted, or that society as a whole would be negatively affected by same-sex marriages, have now realized that none of that is even remotely true.
In my experience, people who finally come to the realization that what goes on in other people's lives has absolutely no impact on their own lives tend to quickly adopt a live-and-let-live attitude. I saw that happen with inter-racial relationships back in the '60s and '70s, along with living together without being married.
Once touted as "unnatural" and "living in sin", both gained wider acceptance as people realized that neither had any effect on their own lives whatsoever.