Just had a family get-together for Mother's Day.
My sister and I are the only democrats. My mom, dad, brother-in-law, and husband are all Republicans.
Our conversations tend to always get political whenever we get together.
Everyone was complaining about the economy and saying that they want Mitt Romney because he'll treat government like a business.
Then, the conversation started going in the direction of what will improve the economy. I remembered an article that I had read just last week, so I decided to pop that into our discussion. Basically, the article stated:
If President Obama's endorsement of gay marriage does convince more states to follow suit with full-fledged legislation, it could free up a lot of cash along the way.
That's because gay marriage would be a shot in the arm to the economy, writes Matt Yglesias at Slate. "Weddings are expensive," Yglesias writes, "so a sudden change in the legal framework would be a shock to economy-wide aggregate spending as a whole bunch of long-standing committed same sex couples rushed to celebrate with friends and family."
As HuffPost's Mark Gongloff points out, gay marriage is also deficit-friendly: No government spending, just a whole bunch of people getting married.
All those legally sanctioned gay weddings would theoretically mean gay couples would spend more money getting married. And, bonus: Gay couples would also save money if same-sex marriage is legalized at the federal level. As HuffPost's Catherine New reported earlier this year, married same-sex couples must file two sets of income tax returns in order to comply with various state and federal laws, making the process more expensive. That inability to file a joint federal tax return also means married gay couples with large enough income disparities would be ineligible for certain tax breaks and deductions.
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Anyhow, I expected that my parents and brother-in-law would get after me on that remark, but to my surprise, they actually went on and on about how gay people should have civil unions.
In fact, my brother in law works with 2 women, and he was going on and on about the issues they face if something would happen to one of the women as well as the children they have together.
My father and mother ( both very conservative Christians ), went on about how gay people are born that way, and why should they be discriminated just because they are attracted to someone of the same sex.
My husband is already socially liberal, even though he is a Repub.
But, I have to say, that this was totally unexpected coming from my parents and brother-in-law.
I couldn't help but think about a diary I was reading here the other day where a
top GOP pollster was sending a memo to the GOP saying that the GOP needs to reverse their stance on this issue, because people are changing.
1. Support for same sex marriage has been growing and in the last few years support has grown at an accelerated rate with no sign of slowing down. A review of public polling shows that up to 2009 support for gay marriage increased at a rate of 1% a year. Starting in 2010 the change in the level of support accelerated to 5% a year. The most recent public polling shows supporters of gay marriage outnumber opponents by a margin of roughly 10% (for instance: NBC / WSJ poll in February / March: support 49%, oppose 40%).
2. The increase in support is taking place among all partisan groups. While more Democrats support gay marriage than Republicans, support levels among Republicans are increasing over time. The same is true of age: younger people support same sex marriage more often than older people, but the trends show that all age groups are rethinking their position.
3. Polling conducted among Republicans show that majorities of Republicans and Republican leaning voters support extending basic legal protections to gays and lesbians. These include majority Republican support for:
a. Protecting gays and lesbians against being fired for reasons of sexual orientation
b. Protections against bullying and harassment
c. Repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell.
d. Right to visit partners in hospitals
e. Protecting partners against loss of home in case of severe medical emergencies or death
f. Legal protection in some form for gay couples whether it be same sex marriage or domestic partnership (only 29% of Republicans oppose legal recognition in any form).
Well... this certainly was the case in my family.