After President Obama’s announcement, opposition to same-sex marriage hits record low

[maddezmom]

Source: WaPo


Public opinion continues to shift in favor of same-sex marriage, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll, which also finds initial signs that President Obama’s support for the idea may have changed a few minds.

Overall, 53 percent of Americans say gay marriage should be legal, hitting a high mark in support while showing a dramatic turnaround from just six years ago, when just 36 percent thought it should be legal. Thirty-nine percent, a new low, say gay marriage should be illegal.

The poll also finds that 59 percent of African Americans say they support same-sex marriage, up from an average of 41 percent in polls leading up to Obama’s announcement of his new position on the matter. Though statistically significant, it is a tentative result because of the relatively small sample of black voters in the poll.

The poll comes two weeks after Obama unexpectedly endorsed same-sex marriage after a year and a half of “evolving” on the subject. Gay rights groups predicted the president’s announcement would have a far-reaching impact on public opinion, in part because Obama described how he came to his own decision, referring to his gay friends and the influence of his young daughters, Sasha and Malia.


Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/after-president-obamas-announcement-opposition-to-gay-marriage-hits-record-low/2012/05/22/gIQAlAYRjU_story.html

[sofa king]

1. All an avalanche needs is a little push.

[malthaussen]

2. So, should we applaud the Bully Pulpit

Or should we mourn that people are so lemming-like?

Well, the latter is confusing "ought" with "is," I reckon.

-- Mal

[starroute]

3. So it's now agreed that gay people should have the right to marry and to go to war

That's an advance of sorts, but I'm wary of the fact that it involves two of the most conservative things people can do.

When Joe Six-pack comes out and agrees that it's a good thing for gay people to be outrageous now and then, because it makes life a lot more colorful and interesting for the rest of us and increases the general supply of creativity, then I'll be impressed.

[msongs]

4. more likely: after opposition hits record low, obama comes out in favor nt

[Scurrilous]

5. Good news.

[LiberalLovinLug]

6. I only wish he would have used his pulpit to fight for public health insurance

I applaud the President for his stance on gay marriage, but this dramatic movement in opinion only proves how much of an impact he would have had if he would have come out swinging for a more universal healthcare insurance system. Instead we got a defeatist attitude and a refusal to even allow doctors in favor of single payer to even speak.

[4th law of robotics]

7. And in 20 years people will wonder what all the fuss was about

like with the interracial marriage opponents.

[Quantess]

8. Good news.