A new national poll suggests that a majority of Americans oppose legalizing same sex marriages — but there's a vast generational divide on the issue.The key theme is the generation gap, as always, because gay activists assume that generational cohort replacement will make legalization of same-sex marriage inevitable. It's a questionable assumption. The number of young people supporting gay marriage isn't asoundingly high. Plus, when question items are broken down into clear choices, (a) support for gay marriage, (b) support for civil unions, or (c) support for neither, less than one third supported option "a" in a recent national survey, and only one in four in Iowa. And life experiences - entering the workforce, owning a home, raising a family, etc. - have the effect of promoting traditional expectations on the role of government in society. That is, people generally become more conservative with age, so today's older cohorts could very well be replaced by younger generations holding increasingly more traditional positions on cultural issues with age.
Fifty-four percent of people questioned in a CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll released Monday say that marriages between gay or lesbian couples should not be recognized as valid, with 44 percent suggests they should be considered legal.
Among those 18 to 34 years old, 58 percent said same-sex marriages should be legal. That number drops to 42 percent among respondents 35 to 49 years old, and to 41 percent for those 50 to 64 years of age. The poll indicates that only 24 percent of Americans 65 and older support recognizing same-sex marriages as valid.
While a majority of those polled oppose legalizing gay marriage, 6 out of 10 feel that states that do not recognize gay marriages allow civil unions. When it comes to supporting civil unions, the poll indicates a similar generational shift.
This is why, from the perspective of gay activists, the battle for same-sex marriage has moved far beyond the question of rights (gay Americans have equal rights under the law, in any case, and gay marriage is not a civil right, for that matter), and has instead shifted to an agenda of wholesale change in American culture and institutions, and especially religion.
Nowadays, as we have seen with the recent controversy over Carrie Prejean, but also today with Samuel Wurzelbacher's statements, traditional Americans have been rebranded as "bigots."
Nothing could be further from the truth.
3 comments:
The sad thing is that it'll be even someday then the majority will be in favor.
Many survey are biased, my friend. The are all made with an agenda in mind, and, in turn, are posted in areas with the greatest support for such agendas. If someone wants to show that majority of Americans oppose gay marriage, they will post it to church groups, southern states, homophobic chat rooms, and other similar locations.
I have yet to see a valid argument opposing gay marriage. Homosexuals will destroy monogamous marriage? God declared that marriage is between a man and a woman?
This is America, not the Vatican. Marriage is a civil right, not merely a religious privilege. Whether God's will is supported by the constitution is irrelevant, for in America, all are equal, and all are free and protected under law. Homosexuals deserve the same rights as all other Americans. The right to share equal opportunities as straight couples, to visit a loved one in the hospital, to raise children (yes, homosexuals can raise healthy minded children, neither corrupted nor abused).
Whether or not 54% of Americans oppose gay marriage, as rbosque stated, majority will be in favor. And it won't be a sad thing, my friend, it will be another victory for Civil Rights, such as interracial marriage, or even women's right to vote. Both of those were considered "wrong," and against God's will, but as I stated, this is not a country of God, but a country of democracy. Homophobics, bigots, and other fearful Americans will have to face that in the future.
It's all very simple... those who choose an immoral lifestyle, one with which most Americans disagree, are at liberty to marry someone of the opposite sex, just like everyone else.
A gay man may marry a woman just as a lesbian may marry a man.
They have the same rights as everyone else!
There IS no discrimination on this issue, and it does not fall under a Civil Rights arguement.
Who they choose to do "whatever" with, is up to them.
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