A recent poll conducted by ABC News and The Washington Post showed that increasing numbers of Americans are supportive of same-sex marriage, and that is certainly cause for hope that it will, indeed, be legalized nationwide someday.
However, political experts are saying that polls aren't always an indication of what's going to happen come election time, when Maine, Washington, Maryland and Minnesota will be voting on this issue, the article stated.
It's a case of "Say one thing, do another."
People still seem to have conflicting emotions regarding this issue and it seems like some folks change their minds on the way to the voting booth, the article noted.
These people need to slow down and think for a second. People have murdered most of the world's rainforests, global climate change is advancing rapidly, and the world's economy is on a frightening downward spiral.
Yet these people are bothered when two people of the same sex fall in love and want to get married. Seriously?
In a word: Goofy.
Fortunately, lots of people are wising up.
In California, Proposition 8, which banned gay marriage back in 2008 would definitely be overturned now, if a state referendum were held, according to Mark DeCamillo, in the link cited above.
DeCamillo is the director of California's Field Poll.
Support for gay marriage garnered a 59 percent approval rating in a February Field poll conducted among California registered voters. Only 34 percent of those polled disapproved of the issue.
That's the highest rating support for same-sex marriage has received in 35 years of polling voters on the issue, according to the article.
In 1977, 59 percent of California's registered voters were against legalizing it, the poll showed. Only 28 percent were in favor.
Support for gay marriage is increasing among African Americans, and President Obama deserves much of the credit for that.
Prior to Obama's announcement, 41 percent of African Americans supported same-sex marriage, according to the Washington Post-ABC News Poll, in this article.
The number rose to 59 percent after Obama's announcement.
In Maryland, voters will decide whether to uphold a law that legalized gay marriage in the state this November, according to the site.
In a poll conducted prior to the President's statement by Public Policy Polling, 56 percent of African Americans said they would vote against the measure.
Afterwards, 55 percent of black respondents said they would vote to uphold the law, the site reported.
Most likely the path towards all 50 states legalizing gay marriage will be a long and arduous process. It already has been.
But if President Obama can change his thinking, perhaps some of the closed minds out there will open up.
It would be a good start.
Photo credit: mensatic from morguefile.com
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Comments: 26
The bottom line for gay marriage is that it represents a change in cultural beliefs. There have been many such examples in US history. In general, these changes lead to a new legal framework and almost never reverse themselves. for example:
-african americans are not going to be slaves anymore
-african american males can vote
- women can vote
- children can no longer legally work full time at a young age: their task at that age is to become educated.
we did not back track on any of these changes. Okay, it took a long long time for african americans to actually gain voting rights after the Civil War- many did not get there until the 1960s. But the LAW was never reversed- it was merely delayed by a bunch on intransigent people who did not want to share political power.
These historical facts lead me to believe that we are not going back to the days of gays being considered second class citizens who need to hide their sexual orientation in public. It also leads me to believe that gay marriage will become legally normal- and someday will not be thought of as a Big Deal.
In general, diehards tend to argue that such changes will lead us into chaos and disaster, with men marrying walruses and with voters trying to gain voting rights for their dogs and cats. But here we are, still surviving.
However, given the fact that the equal rights amendment is still not adopted does not fill me with hope.
Unfortunately, America unlike Canada is far more conservative in many ways and on many modern issues, even though we are looked upon by many countries as being a progressive society. In actuality, change comes relatively slow in comparison to that of our Canadian Brothers.
America's slowness to evolve into a socially progressive nation is mainly due to the altra conservative beliefs of the Evangelical religious members of the Republican Party. These extremist are boisterous and demanding of their elected Republican Congressional Representatives to remain conservative on all legislative issues concerning biblical teachings and scripture.
Liberals and progressive Democrats reach a majority in America only when combined with established Democrat party members. Such rarely happens, inasmuch, new ideas are commonly ignored for fear of causing a desertion from the party by religious party members and/or are met with skepticism as being radical and outside of the party's estabished ideology.
However, I, as a Liberal Democrat, do appreciate your sentments and join you in the hope that America will some day soon, actually become a truely enlightened nation of socially progressive people.
Until then, the fight for the exclusion of the Evangelical religious postering and intrusion into the Halls of Congress will and must continue for the welfare of our governing body and our country.
Once upon a time America was more socially progressive than Canada. Somehow during my lifetime that has flipped over.
Not a viable argument. Has nothing to do with gay marriage.
@Joy Bee, do you have any evidence at all that homosexuals are corrupt? Your remarks seem to come out of right-wing field.
As far as your comment about letting our kids go to the bar, why don't we do this:
Call the she-bears down from the mountain and let them eat the kids after the kids have made fun of a bald-headed guy.
The bears will have fun. Makes about as much sense as your remark.
@j.j. Are you going to tell me you've never changed your mind, ever? If people changed their minds after Obama's announcement it may likely be because they look up to him. There's nothing wrong with that. I'm no Obama fan, but most people cogitate on all different sorts of things and change their minds all of the time. It shows a level of intelligence when people do that. It's called reasoning.
People who constantly view issues as right or wrong are often intolerant. When I married my husband, I didn't think of it as right or wrong. I married him because I love him. This is what most people who get married are looking for, including gays and lesbians. They simply want the same options that the rest of us have and it's very sad that people who are narrow-minded, right-wing religious conservatives (and it is mostly religious conservatives doing this) are so cruel.
All those pretending to be libertarians should understand this principle.
However, when referring to their biblical teachings and scripture as being the reason, they always use verses from their religious text which refer to homosexuality as being an abomination. They never refer to any religious scripture which specifically forbids sanctioned marriage between two consenting adults. Why, because no such language can be found in any modern nor ancient biblical text, writings nor scripture.
In actuality the KJV of the modern bible only mentions the word marriage twice within the entire book of Religious Canons. (Exodus 21:10 and Paslm 78:63) Neither time was the word used to speak of a religiously performed ceremony conducted by a Christian Priest or a Jewish Rabbi nor a ceremony being held within a Church or Temple. The reason being, the word marriage actually only refers to the union of two people by a traditional ritual ceremony, not a ceremony conducted by a religious man nor a church leader nor the requirement that the ceremony must be performed with a religious place of worship.
A marriage ceremony before and during Jesus's time on earth was as follows; (1) the approval of both fathers for the union (2) the arrangents of payment to the Brides father (3) the building of a house for the couple by the Groom (4) the awaking from sleep of the Bride by a servant of the Groom (5) The furnishing of party and celebration needs by the Groom (6) an official party attended by both families and guest (7) the taking of the Bride to her new home after the party celebration
Those steps concluded the marriage process. The two consenting adults were then officially married and having been declared so by both families and the community. Having done so without either having recited nor pledging under/by any religious statements, scripture nor formal reading of religious text or written religious scripture.
The only written exception to the above, were the times when an adolencent daughter of one family was betroved to an adolencent son of another family. Even then the above process was required upon the two betroved couple reaching the proper age of marriage.
Therefore, my question is, why do Evangelical Christians who claim to be followers of the historical biblical scriptures of their faith, demand that two people must abide by church doctrine. When in fact, neither religious doctrine nor the church had any presence nor part in marriage ceremonies of biblical times. Further, how can Christians of today claim authority over the marriage of any two consenting adults when such was never acknowledged nor established in biblical history.
Evangelical Christians claim that marriage between two people of the same sex is a violation of church doctrine, when in actuality, the church only in modern times became a means by which people can be wed. Further, no such written religious scripture exist on the subject of same sex marriage between two consenting adults.
Most evangelicals misuse Bible passages, misquote the Bible, stray far from it and infer things that are not in it to support whatever narrow minded bigotry they are currently worked into a lather over, while simultaneously ignoring those parts of the Bible they see as inconvenient or embarrassing.
It's the old, it must be in the Bible, because that is what I have been told, taught and heard all my life. God said it and it's in the Bible, end of discussion.
Scott is just a lying Liberal who hates Christians, that's why he makes such false statements against the Evangelical faith.
It's in the Bible of Christian faith and scripture. I know it's there, exactly where, I don't know, but it's there.