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...seems to be showing a long-term trend....but there could be a plateau out there in the future
Which would still leave half of the country with a majority in favor of marriage equality and the other half of the country overwhelmingly in favor. QED.
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Originally Posted by Dayton Sux
I guess I can't believe society is coming 'round to a more tolerant position on this.
I'm sure that many reasonable people didn't believe society was coming around to a more tolerant position vis a vis civil rights, women's suffrage, freedom from slavery, and independence from the crown.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dayton Sux
What do you all think accounts for this improvement in public opinion?
It's part of a 400 year trend in society toward increasing compassion and consideration of others. It's probably strange for Gen X'ers and Millennials, because like everything, even within long-term trends, there are cycles and the last 50 years have been a time of increased self-motivation, but the overall long-term trend is still toward society maturing, and even the reactionary efforts of some over the last several decades cannot hold back that long-term trend.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dayton Sux
I wonder if the internet has something to do with it.
Well, it surely could account for shaking things free and starting the micro-cycle back up the other way, but it surely wouldn't account for the earlier instances of this long-term trend toward increasing consideration of others that I mentioned.
Have you seen the demographics for this issue? The study was released last week showing that the percent of Republicans opposing marriage equality has plummeted, from 76% of those over 65, to 69% of those 50-65, to 66% of those 30-49, to 54% of those 18-29. Where do you see any softness in that trend? It looks like the numbers have fallen off a cliff, to me.
doesnt matter really...these things wax and wane...in a few more decades there will be another up start group or another group of religious zealots monopolizing the airwaves, and the message will be completely different. Its not like anyone's voice is going to be completely silenced just because a few statistics point to an acute trend in one generation compared to the last.
I have always been neutral on the subject of gay marriage, but the gay marriage activists are ruining it for me. I hate how in your face they are and how they automatically assume that anybody against gay marriage is a homophobic bigot. It almost makes me not want them to win with gay marriage issues because of how obnoxious they can be. I also hate how sensitive they can be. Like if somebody says "That's so gay" they get all offended.
Anybody else feel this way?
The word you appear to be looking for is "uppity".
It's part of a 400 year trend in society toward increasing compassion and consideration of others.
doesnt matter really...these things wax and wane...in a few more decades there will be another up start group or another group of religious zealots monopolizing the airwaves, and the message will be completely different.
The "few more decades" is indeed properly applied to the upswing in right-wing reactionary sentiment, which hopefully is beginning to wane.
I have always been neutral on the subject of gay marriage, but the gay marriage activists are ruining it for me. I hate how in your face they are and how they automatically assume that anybody against gay marriage is a homophobic bigot. It almost makes me not want them to win with gay marriage issues because of how obnoxious they can be. I also hate how sensitive they can be. Like if somebody says "That's so gay" they get all offended.
Anybody else feel this way?
I do not agree with you.
The issue of civil rights and equality for members of the LGBT community is a "hot button" and passionate cause for this community, which has suffered discrimination and prejudice in the past.
I think what you are saying that you want this community to be "quiet and polite good homosexuals" ... just as I am sure there where whites in America in the 1950s and 1960s who wanted "quiet and polite Negroes" to discreetly press for their freedoms.
In this country, it doesn't work that way. Rightly or wrongly, it is the squeakiest wheel that gets oiled.
Now lets be honest, I am sure there are a lot of heterosexuals out there that don't mind gay people having rights but feel at the same time that "marriage" is a uniquely heterosexual institution. We can have a civil and respectful debate about that. However, I think you are unaware of the fact that it is the opponents of marriage equality that went off on the deep end and are calling LGBT people everything from "fascists" and "pedophiles" to "disease spreaders."
Unfortunately civil discourse is disappearing in the realm of political debate in this country. We are becoming highly polarized.
The issue of civil rights and equality for members of the LGBT community is a "hot button" and passionate cause for this community, which has suffered discrimination and prejudice in the past.
I think what you are saying that you want this community to be "quiet and polite good homosexuals" ... just as I am sure there where whites in America in the 1950s and 1960s who wanted "quiet and polite Negroes" to discreetly press for their freedoms.
In this country, it doesn't work that way. Rightly or wrongly, it is the squeakiest wheel that gets oiled.
Now lets be honest, I am sure there are a lot of heterosexuals out there that don't mind gay people having rights but feel at the same time that "marriage" is a uniquely heterosexual institution. We can have a civil and respectful debate about that. However, I think you are unaware of the fact that it is the opponents of marriage equality that went off on the deep end and are calling LGBT people everything from "fascists" and "pedophiles" to "disease spreaders."
Unfortunately civil discourse is disappearing in the realm of political debate in this country. We are becoming highly polarized.
I couldn't rep you again. Well said.
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Not True!
