POLL: Majority Backs Gay Marriage, 51/47. Big swing toward equality in two years, from -10 to +4.

[jefferson_dem]

Majority Backs Gay Marriage

A new CNN/Opinion Research poll finds 51% of Americans think marriages between lesbian and gay couples should be legal, while 47% said the marriages should not be recognized.

http://politicalwire.com/archives/2011/04/19/majority_backs_gay_marriage.html

FULL REPORT - http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2011/images/04/19/rel6h.pdf

[phleshdef]

1. A lot has changed in just the last 10-15 years. And I give Hollywood a lot of the credit.

Of course no one gets more credit than GLBT activists that have worked to teach America about the wrongfulness of bigotry towards those who are homosexual. But I think Hollywood's gradual attitude change in the way it generally depicts gay characters and gay oriented situations should not go unmentioned. We just have to be a little more patient with our society and take heart that it really has been changing for the better in this area.

[grahamhgreen]

2. You know, gays should always have been allowed to marry. I guess it was the Bible and Leviticus

that made it "bad" in the first place.

From Wiki-

Various types of same-sex marriages have existed,<49> ranging from informal, unsanctioned relationships to highly ritualized unions.<50>

In the southern Chinese province of Fujian, through the Ming dynasty period, females would bind themselves in contracts to younger females in elaborate ceremonies.<51> Males also entered similar arrangements. This type of arrangement was also similar in ancient European history.<52>

[Arugula Latte]

4. That stupid book has caused untold pain and suffering for centuries. nt

[blueclown]

5. +1

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

3. I always knew that in my lifetime, I would see it come to pass, and it has! n/t

[ShadowLiberal]

6. No surprise, when gay marriage support gets to the low 40's it tends to skyrocket quickly

It's not really as surprising as it sounds that gay marriage support could jump up 14 points in 2 years in polls. Nate Silver did some analysis on gay marriage support state by state over the years, and found that around the low 40's support for gay marriage starts to skyrocket for a while, until it gets near 55% to 60%.

The theory behind it is once gay marriage support hits the low 40's a lot more gay people are willing to come out, and knowing gay people makes one more accepting towards gays.