Knowing Gay People Drives Growth in Marriage Equality Support

Jim Burroway

March 25th, 2013

CNN is calling it “the Portman Effect”:

One day before the Supreme Court hears a high profile case on same-sex marriage, a new national poll indicates that the percentage of Americans who say they have a family member or close friend who is gay or lesbian is on the rise. And that increase matches a jump in the percent of the public who support legal same-sex marriages

According to a CNN/ORC International survey, 57% say they have a family member or close friend who is gay or lesbian, up 12 points from 2007.

“The number of Americans who support same-sex marriage has risen by almost the same amount in that time – from 40% in 2007 to 53% today – strongly suggesting that the rise in support for gay marriage is due in part to the rising number of Americans who have become aware that someone close to them is gay,” says CNN Polling Director Keating Holland.

TampaZeke

March 25th, 2013

The moral of the story?

COME OUT, COME OUT, WHO/WHERE EVER YOU ARE!

revchicoucc

March 25th, 2013

When I was called as an openly gay person to be pastor of a church in a small town in southern Minnesota, I immediately became the most out person in town. There were other LG people (don’t know about B and T there). But I told the whole congregation, so I was really out. Left there 5 years ago.

Recently, that congregation voted to be “Open and Affirming.” I called a friend there who said, “You helped us get here. We learned being gay was just another way of being human. The vote was overwhelmingly in favor.” So they came out as supportive. The two ways of being out are related.

Charles

March 26th, 2013

Well, I came out to friends and family in 2007. The best thing that I ever did for my mental health.

Timothy Kincaid

March 26th, 2013

In our very divided culture, we know the ‘us’ but we live our lives, enjoy our luxuries, devote our worship, toil at our labor, and celebrate or mourn our life milestones without ever involving ‘them’.

It’s easy to hate them. Or misunderstand them. Or simply ignore them. All of us agree, they are vile people. Of course they have propaganda and media to try and convince us that they are good decent people, but you know it’s all a lie.

They are immoral, they are haters, they want to destroy our families. They are not merely misguided; it’s not just that they have been raised poorly and fed lies; they willfully choose their evil attitudes and life choices.

Until we meet them and come to know and love them. Then we find that they are human and, unlike what our political, religious, and cultural leaders have told us, very much more like us than different.

And that is true both ways and on a wide range of us-them divisions.

Regan DuCasse

March 26th, 2013

Demanding to vote against a distinct demographic of people you DON’T know, and refuse to, is an even WORSE impetus for Constitutional amendments.

If you’re going to enact virtually immovable law, you damn well BETTER know who you’re doing it against, why and what for!
And OWN it when it blows up in your face.

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