So How Popular Is Gay Marriage? (Mætenloch)

Here's an interesting graph that breaks down support for gay marriage by state and age group. Overall about 55% of people oppose gay marriage (44% support) according to this CNN poll. but as you can see from the graph support varies quite a bit by state. And there's a consistent generation gap with younger people supporting gay marriage and older people opposing it.

Over time you'd expect the 18-29 year-olds to become somewhat more conservative, but I doubt that they'll change that much. So it looks like gay marriage of some kind is inevitable in a few decades.

Currently the only states issuing marriage licenses to gay couples are MA, VT, CT, NH, and IA. And these have all approved same sex marriage through legislative or judicial means. Whenever gay marriage has been brought to a popular vote, it's always been voted down.

Interestingly the very word 'marriage' seems to be what bothers a lot of people. 60% of people polled support allowing civil unions where same sex marriage is not allowed. So it seems to be the label that most people are objecting to rather than its practical effects.

Personally allowing gay marriage doesn't really bother me since I think that horse is out of the barn anyway. But I do object to the anti-democratic and bullying tactics used by gay marriage activists. I think there should be some legal way for same sex couples to get the same power of attorney that married couples automatically enjoy. And I don't particularly care what it's called.

posted by xgenghisx at 05:20 PM

| Access Comments