Weekly Poll: Will Gay Marriage Become Normal and Accepted in Your Life?
Thursday December 4, 2008
The push to legalize gay marriage has gained a lot of momentum recently. Ten years ago, no one would have predicted that things would have gotten so far; today, the Christian Right has to spend a lot of time, money, and effort to prevent gay marriage from already being a reality in many states. Do you think that within your lifetime gay marriages will be as normal and accepted as interracial and interfaith marriages have become today, or do you think that it will take a lot longer for that much progress to be made?
Comments
As societal power shifts and the next generation actually starts taking over, it will become more and more standard and common.
In general, in the conversations I have had with others, those under 30 don’t even quite see what the issue is, where as people older than that have a hard time accepting it.
So, it is just a matter of time. Some other issue will soon supplant the shock of gay marriage.
The poll isn’t working. I can’t click to vote or to see the results.
I would have liked to respond in a most positive affirmative, but I selected the 2nd choice (Probably) because I am 54 and I am not entirely sure society will be enlightened before I die. Were I younger, I would assert positively my belief that same-sex marriage would be legal in my lifetime.
Unfortunately, we’re zero for 30 in state votes, so I don’t hold out any hope for major changes anytime soon. Sometimes I think we shoot ourselves in the foot by aiming too high too fast. One of the lessons of the black civil rights movement is that the NAACP legal team took a deliberate and systematic approach to building precedents step-by-step. Somehow our leaders came to believe that change would just come about magically because we’re right. But while it’s true that there is no rational secular basis for denying same-sex couples the right to marry, many people in this country, including a great many political and legal leaders, are still stuck in 13th century thinking about sexuality.
Austin: The option I would chose, if it were given, would be “it already is”.
Gay marriage is already legal in all ten Canadian provinces. It is widely accepted, and very little is being said against it. The same is true across much of Europe. When you pose your poll questions, please remember that the entire English-speaking world uses the internet, and in the fight for an end to discrimination against atheism, those of you in the US need the assistance of those from outside your country. Indeed, the reduction of anti-atheist bigotry in the US would be greatly helped if American theists were more aware of the reality in other ‘advanced’ nations.
Drew, you just took the words from my mouth. While I’m not gay, this makes me very proud to be Canadian - the Land of Liberty
Drew: You took the words from my mouth, too. If the poll question read, “Will gay marriage IN THE U.S. become…” I would have checked option 2 (Perhaps…)rather than option 1 because, yes, it is already legal and accepted in Canada.
I get the distinct impression that homosexuality and atheism are much more widely discriminated against in the U.S. than in Canada and Europe. Why is this, do you think?
Heh. Just read the article, “Having God On Your Side…” Guess that answers my question. Wish there were an edit function here.
Does any marriage become normal? A gay marriage is taking a big chance like any other.
My lifespan doesn’t have anything to do with the issue, it’s more about the lifespans of all the American homophobes.