The NY Times writes that “perhaps the public has reached a turning point.”
The article details that it is becoming more popular to recognize our human right to marry our partners, and that younger voters overwhelmingly support the recognition of our right to marriage. This, of course, doesn’t surprise us. We are surprised that some of our supposed allies want us to wait because it isn’t convenient for them to recognize our rights “right now.” They want us to forget the fact it was us that read the tea leaves and told them to MOVE on our rights before they got left behind by the likes of Elizabeth Hasselbeck.
Granted, Elizabeth is a pop culture icon of the right but one can’t disregard the fact that if SHE can move to the left on this issue then the Democratic Party, and especially President Obama, has missed the train.
And support for same-sex marriage has increased in all states, even in relatively conservative places like Wyoming and Kentucky. Only Utah is still below where national support stood in 1996.
Among the five states that currently allow same-sex marriage, Iowa is the outlier. It is the only one of those states where support falls below half, at 44 percent.
This trend will continue. Nationally, a majority of people under age 30 support same-sex marriage. And this is not because of overwhelming majorities found in more liberal states that skew the national picture: our research shows that a majority of young people in almost every state support it. As new voters come of age, and as their older counterparts exit the voting pool, it’s likely that support will increase, pushing more states over the halfway mark.
It continues to be disturbing to have a Democratic President whose parents enjoyed the nascent recognition of their right to marry being so obstinate on this particular human rights issue. It remains a horrible metaphor of hypocrisy and is time for Obama to change his mind before it damages his legacy.
“Justice delayed is justice denied.”
