New poll shows support for marriage equality up to 60 percent as Supreme Court ruling looms

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Support for same-sex marriage in the United States is at an all-time high of 60 percent, a new poll showed Tuesday as the Supreme Court gears up to weigh in on the issue.

The rate of support rose five percent from last year, and is at its highest since surveys began to address the matter in 1996, pollsters Gallup said in a statement.

A majority of Americans first supported legal marriage for gays and lesbians for the first time in 2011, Gallup said; since then, the number has steadily risen.

“Support for the legality of gay marriages in the US has been a fast-changing trend. Just two decades ago, only 27% of Americans backed gay marriage, while 68% opposed,” Gallup said.

But “by 2005, the percentage in favor had increased by 10 points to 37%, and by 2010 it had reached 44%.”

Here's an underinflated football that could add a new dimension to the political climate.
Will the GOP stand by their base with the Christian Right, or sail with the prevailing winds of change?

The US Supreme Court is due to rule on the constitutionality of same-sex marriage in a month, a landmark ruling which could settle once and for all legal questions surrounding marriage for lesbians and gays.

In the US federal system, 37 out of 50 states, plus the capital Washington, DC, already allow same-sex marriage. Other states do not allow it, and do not recognize those marriages from other US states.

Interesting times indeed.....and sorry my metaphor train has gone off the rails!!!

being pro gay is trendy right now.
And it's a good thing. we have much more important things to worry about than who loves who.
My tap water catches on fire, i don't have the right to know what's in my food, sea levels are rising, my emails are being stored in a secret bunker but homosexuality will bring the downfall of society? get the F outta here.
Let people be happy and let's focus on things that actually matter

a reply to: olaru12

I thought laws are supposed to protect minorities anyway? I dont think it should matter how many people agree or disagree. It either has legal presidence or not. In this case the state or voters dont have say. If 60 percent of the population votes against an individuals liberties you still need to protect the persons individual liberty.

The state should have no say over who gets married. If they were a male devil worshiper and a female devil worshiper the could be married in these "religeous" states even though thats against the religeon.

Maybe the state should start telling the church how to sermonize. Wouldnt like that...then why should it not go both ways? Marriage is a right and personal liberty and society has defined it as such by attaching rights and liberties to it.

a reply to: olaru12

I don't understand why it's not 100% in favor of it. Logic really can't be reconciled with the religious beliefs...but that's why we have rights in this country to believe what we want, and why I don't subscribe to religion.

ETA: Wouldn't it be interesting if our representatives actually represented the majority will of their constituents in the House of Representatives instead of the majority will of their party? I wonder how differently the bills introduced would look. I would be disappointed in some of them, but like others, and that's generally the way it should be. They make a massively bad assumption that just because they represent a party and were elected, that the party's platform is the majority opinion in their area...or they just don't care. Probably the latter.

These people are my fellow American citizens. What these people do doesn't affect me or hurt anyone. The only logical position is to support marriage equality.

a reply to: olaru12

I think everyone should have the equal right to be miserable!

a reply to: IShotMyLastMuse


Sorry, I'm not trendy nor am I part of that 60%. laws should not have to amend to whatever is "trendy".

originally posted by: olaru12
Will the GOP stand by their base with the Christian Right, or sail with the prevailing winds of change?

They'll resolutely stick to their ignorance until their party splits into two. I've been saying this for a couple of years now, but it became incredibly clear at the last election where it was absolutely obvious that the younger voters were entirely against the Republican party.

It's really very obvious to everyone but the majority of Republicans. The American public is increasingly fed up with the moralistic and religious preaching of the right-wing, it's outdated, no longer wanted, it's defunct and only serves a minority of old and ignorant voters who still think they're living in the 1960's.

A very few Republicans have been paying attention to the numbers and becoming more liberal in their thinking. The majority of Republicans are still steadfastly clinging to the sinking ship with one hand, and their Bible in the other.

The only way this can go is for the Republican party to eventually split. You'll end up with a three party system much like the UK, with the Democrats (Labour Party), Republicans (Conservatives) and the Tea Party (UKIP/BNP/Nationalist bigots and racists).

The Republican party will then be free to build on a new model of Economic Conservatism, abandoning the religious bs, becoming a party a large number of Americans can actually support.

This is all inevitable, and it would be the ideal way to go to take the US forward.

The real question is how long will it take for the Republican party to realize that either way they will have a few years of being powerless? The length of that time all depends on when they decide to evolve and meet the needs of the public. If they refuse to split and keep on going the way they are they could indefinitely be out in the cold, for as long as they refuse to modernize.
If they made the move today and ousted the Tea Party nutters to become more relevant to modern America they could regain ground in perhaps a couple of years.

originally posted by: IShotMyLastMuse
being pro gay is trendy right now.

Like ending racial segregation was 'trendy"?

This is not a trend, it's called social evolution

a reply to: Ultralight

This is true but the over all law the constitution projects is individual liberty. There is no way you can argue that not allowing gay marriage is not an infraction of personal liberty. Especially so with all of the benefits of liberty given by marriage by the government.

A church should not be forced to mary anybody but the state has no arguement over marriage lisences. Doma is unconstitutional and a mockery of church and state policy.

originally posted by: Ultralight
a reply to: IShotMyLastMuse


Sorry, I'm not trendy nor am I part of that 60%. laws should not have to amend to whatever is "trendy".

1. It's not a trend, and to suggest so is idiotic.
2. Laws change all the time depending on social standards. Should we hold on to all laws for nothing more than "tradition"? The radical preachers of other nations think so, is that the kind of company you think Christianity should be keeping?

How about the rights of women to vote? How about racial segregation? How about interracial marriage?
Were all those things considered "trendy", do you also believe that laws should not have been changed in those instances?

And lets not forget, thousands of "Christians" also protested those changes too.

I guarantee you that in 50 years kids will be reading about these changes in their history books and picking out the names of so-called Christians and Republicans and laughing about how backward and ignorant they were, just as we do for the bigots of our history.

a reply to: Rocker2013

The left is no different than the right as far as the scum of the pond. I think your interpretation of the repubs is fair but the dems are terrible hippocrates. Who do you think funds them? Hell the coke brothere funded Bill Clinton. The dems are more evil in my opinion. They pretend to care about the poor but only to be elected. Thats why they have terrible ideas and solutions. Follow the money. They take all the same bribes from lobbyists any republican does. They say different stuff to the camera but its all just to rile up the crowd and bases. Policy wise there are very very little differences.

a reply to: Rocker2013

I didn't coin the term trendy, I responded to it. You cannot guarantee kids 50 years from now will be able to laugh at anything. I am hoping we have a world in 50 years. Can you guarantee that too?

a reply to: Rocker2013

What you are saying is part correct but those laws were unconstitutional to begin with. People awoke to there own bigotry. Changing laws on popular opinion is only ok if the law was unconstituional to begin with. If 60 percent believed gays shouldnt be able to mary then this arguement would not be favorable for gay marriage.

Marriage is personal liberty the state should not be able to perform unconstituional acts because people have certain religious ideology. Marriage is not only between a man and women in every culture or religeon therefor it is also a religeous freedom issue.

I am quite interested in seeing what the Supreme Court says here, and I am sure there will be more comments and threads generated at that time (next month)

I will make some short term and long term predictions.

1. SCOTUS will rule in favor of same-sex marriage by 9 for, 0 against. It will be a unanimous decision.

2. The institution of marriage will continue to erode over the next 20 years.

3. By 2035, few people will take marriage seriously as an institution, divorce rates will level off at near 100%. Most people will have been married three times during their times, and most will die single and detached.

Incidentally, since I am making predictions, the year 2035 will also be the year smoking is completely outlawed, and the newest trend will be eugenics, which will be hotly and seriously debated as a way to significantly improve humanity. The standard of living for the world will have significantly increased, but perhaps not in the USA or Europe, where it will be slightly lower than it is now.

I am just saying... my predictions. Not implying any judgement.

We will find out about prediction number 1 next month.

a reply to: luthier

Im lost here, there the same of there worst?

People can stay stuck all the want in the 50s, the people will always win in the end.

I think these new poll numbers with such a significant turn around from years past has actually been caused by two different things that have been happening.

First, it's the normal progression of things. Over the years as more homosexuals have come out in the open it's made them more common to everyone so there isn't so much fear of the unknown for many. In fact, these days you'd be hard pressed to find anyone who doesn't know at least someone in their circle of friends or family that is gay. This has a major effect on people because they realize that these are people they know and love like anyone else and understand why treating them different in the past was wrong and stupid.

Second, I think it's not so much the new understanding and pro gay attitude shift like what is said above but I also think part of the shift is from people who are also simply sick of all the hate towards others. While the first set above is probably the largest cause of change, I think others who may not really care one way or the other have reached a point where they are sick of others fighting and hating on other people and based on that are now willing to say enough is enough. It's not so much that they are pro gay but the fact they are pro freedom, pro equality and anti bigotry.

This really just leaves the Pro Bigot crowd. The Anti-Individual-Freedom crowd. Basically just the nasty folks out there who like to stick their noses into the lives of others and judge everyone based on their own personal morals crowd. This is a much smaller group than who they oppose and I doubt it's even a 60-40 split. I think lot's of those 40%-ers are still just falling in line with those around them because they think they should or have to. They will change as well given a little more time and the ability to do so without being peer pressured to hold the old views.

a reply to: Rocker2013

"This is not a trend, it's called social evolution"
you give humans too much credit

a reply to: olaru12

Will the GOP stand by their base with the Christian Right, or sail with the prevailing winds of change?

They'll ride that rail into the sunset at the end of the line...

What choice do they have?

The real fun will be watching them contort and squirm as they try to find ways to make it all palatable to their base - and not look like they're flip flopping

Good times ahead, fun for all - so worth the wait!

(Mixed metaphor - my favorite)

:-)