According to the latest ABC/WaPo Poll, 49% of Americans support gay marriage, and 46% oppose it. This it the first time ever when the supporters outnumber the opponents!
The change is coming fast and furious now!
At its low, in 2004, just 32 percent of Americans favored gay marriage, with 62 percent opposed. Now 49 percent support it versus 46 percent opposed -- the first time in ABC/Post polls that supporters have outnumbered opponents.
More than half, moreover -- 53 percent -- say gay marriages held legally in another state should be recognized as legal in their states.
And look at those demographics!
Seventy-five percent of evangelical white Protestants say gay marriage should be illegal, and 68 percent feel that way strongly. Similarly, 83 percent of conservative Republicans are opposed, 73 percent strongly. Among all conservatives regardless of political affiliation, 66 percent are opposed.
Across the spectrum, 75 percent of secular Americans favor gay marriage, 55 percent strongly; so do 71 percent of liberal Democrats, 57 percent strongly; and 71 percent of all liberals, 54 percent strongly. Among all Democrats, 62 percent are in favor; among all Republicans, 74 percent are opposed.
The middle makes a significant difference: Fifty-four percent of moderates and 52 percent of independents now favor gay marriage, up from 38 and 44 percent, respectively, in 2006. But the single biggest shift has come among moderate and conservative Democrats: in 2006, just 30 percent in this group said gay marriage should be legal. Today it's 57 percent.
One other very pronounced difference is by age: Sixty-six percent of adults under age 30 support gay marriage. That drops to 48 percent of adults age 30 to 64 and plummets to just 28 percent among senior citizens.
GOP is radicalizing even as it should be moderating. Any GOP nominee will have to pander to the "evangelical white Protestants" and "conservative Republicans". Talk about a road to nowhere...
Man, I am pumped. Maine and New Hampshire are now advancing credible gay marriage laws, 4 states already have gay marriage on the books... equal rights are coming, baby!
P.S. Sorry for the short diary, but I thought this was important.