New Washington Post-ABC Poll: Slim Majority Back Gay Marriage

A new Washington Post-ABC News poll has again shown that the Christianists are slowly losing their war against LGBT citizens and same sex marriage in particular. We can expect the shrill hysteria from self-enriching political whore Maggie Gallagher, KKK loving Tony Perkins (who must be incensed by the mixed race couple in the photo above), self-loathing closet case Bob Knight, and, of course white supremacist/homophobe manipulated black pastors, to increase much like anti-black hysteria increased in the South in the early 1960's (sadly, I'm old enough to recall watching TV coverage of segregationist violence in my pre-teen and teenage years). In the longer term, one can only hope that the increased stridency and untruthfulness of the opponents of equality will help to hasten the demise of their support in the larger public. The day cannot come soon enough in my book when the vast majority of the population will realize that if a Christianist's lips are moving, the safest assumption is to presume the statements being made are deliberate lies and/or reflect a religious extremism akin to that of the Taliban. The Washington Post has coverage on the poll and here are some highlights:
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A slim majority of Americans now support gay marriage, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll. The results underscore the nation’s increasingly tolerant views about homosexuals, and parallel a string of recent legal and legislative victories for gay rights advocates.
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Five years ago, at 36 percent, support for gay marriage barely topped a third of all Americans. Now, 53 percent say gay marriage should be legal, marking the first time in Post-ABC polling that a majority has said so.
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“This is very consistent with a lot of other polling data we’ve seen and the general momentum we’ve seen over the past year and a half,” said Evan Wolfson, president of Freedom to Marry, a leading pro-gay-marriage group. “As people have come to understand this is about loving, committed families dealing, like everyone, with tough times, they understand how unfair it is to treat them differently.”
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Opponents of same-sex marriage took issue with the poll, which asks respondents: “Do you think it should be legal or illegal for gay and lesbian couples to get married?”
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Post-ABC News polls have used the same “legal or illegal” wording in every poll about same-sex marriage since 2003. Other surveys by the Pew Research Center, the Associated Press and CNN show similar trends.
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Men, who previously were less supportive of same-sex marriage than women, now back it at the same rate. Support among college-educated whites, political independents and people who do not consider themselves religious also rose substantially. Republicans, conservatives and white evangelical Christians remain the groups most opposed to legalizing gay marriage.
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This week, Democrats introduced bills to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act and noted how the tables have turned. “What do I say to the idea that this is a wedge issue? I say ‘Hallelujah,’ ” Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.), who is gay, told reporters, according to the liberal Web site Talking Points Memo. “The fact that we’ve now evolved to the point where the Republicans are complaining about the fact that we introduced this bill because it causes them political problems is a great sign of progress. It used to be the other way around.”