Gay Marriage Support Increasing Among Students

A new report will no doubt cause Maggie Gallagher and her fellow professional Christians to redouble their efforts against gay equality. Why? Because they may be winning some battles, but long term they are losing the war. Hence they will seek to throw up as many obstructions as possible before their homophobic, religious based discrimination ends up on the scrap heap of history. The report confirms, as have others, that the younger generations are increasingly supportive of gay equality and gay marriage and that as the old homophobes literally die off, there will be a sea change in attitudes down the road. If some religious denominations were thinking about their long term membership, they would understand that continued anti-gay jihads will eventually cost them dearly. Here are some highlights from the Advocate:
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A new report shows that support for same-sex marriage among college freshmen has increased by nine percentage points in the past decade. According to the Higher Education Research Institute, acceptance of gay marriage is higher among first-year students than almost all other groups sorted by race, religion, and political leanings.
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Sixty-five percent of college freshmen surveyed last fall support gay marriage, up from 56% in 2000. Since the survey began asking about the topic in 1997, research indicates that support for same-sex marriage has jumped 21 percentage points among left-leaning students, 16 percentage points among politically moderate students, and two percentage points among right-leaning students.
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Evan Wolfson, executive director of the pro-marriage equality group Freedom to Marry, pointed to personal experience as a source of growing support among students. "Young people who know gay people, talk with them, and examine why marriage matters in the lives of real people move in support,” he told the Chronicle of Higher Education.

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The Chronicle of Higher Education has more details on the study. The report ought to send a message to Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell and Ken "Cooch" Cuccinelli that their anti-gay policies are not helping the GOP - or Virginia - in the long term either. Here are some additional highlights:
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The Higher Education Research Institute also broke down freshmen's support for same-sex marriage by sex, race, and religious affiliation. Women were 72 percent supportive and men 57 percent supportive, compared with national rates of 43 percent for women and 34 percent for men, according to the Pew survey.
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Among freshmen, Hispanic students were 69 percent supportive, white students 65 percent supportive, and black students 53 percent supportive. Support among those groups in the population at large was lower: 45 percent among Hispanics, 39 percent among whites, and 26 percent among blacks.
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Students who identified themselves as Jewish, Buddhist, or nonreligious were most supportive, with at least 87 percent in each group favoring legal same-sex marriage. Sixty-six percent of Catholic students and 58 percent of Muslim students expressed support, as did between 50 and 75 percent of students affiliated with most Protestant Christian denominations.