Pew Poll: Majority of Parents Not Upset to Have a Gay Child

 

In what is clearly more bad news for the gay-hating Christofascists, a new Pew Research Center survey comparing views on gays in 1985, 2000, and 2004 versus 2013 finds that in 2013, 55% of parents surveyed would not be upset to discover that they have a gay child.  Only 19% would be very upset - a figure that probably corresponds to the percentage of the population comprised of spittle flecked "godly Christians."   The findings are also noteworthy because they reveal a huge shift in the mindset of those over age 65.  While a majority still would be upset to learn the news, 47% now say they would not be upset.  The findings are yet further evidence that the GOP's anti-gay jihad is going to turn into a form of political suicide sooner as opposed to later - assuming the self-inflicted death process hasn't already begun.  Here are some details of the survey findings:

The new survey finds larger changes over the past decade in favorable opinions of gay men and lesbians. Ten years ago, the balance of opinion toward both gay men and lesbians was 
unfavorable: 37% viewed gay men favorably, while 51% viewed them unfavorably; 39% had a favorable impression of lesbian women while 48% had an unfavorable opinion.  Today, by a 55% to 32% margin, more have a favorable than unfavorable opinion of gay men. And about twice as many view lesbian women favorably (58%) than unfavorably (29%).

In 1985, a Los Angeles Times survey found that 64% of the public said they would be “very upset” if their child told them he or she was gay or lesbian. By 2004, that number had fallen by almost half (33%). Since then, it has declined another 14 points, to 19%.

Instead, a majority (55%) now says they would not be upset if they learned their child was gay or lesbian, a 19-point increase since 2004 and a 46-point increase since the mid-1980s.

Again, this has been an across-the-board shift in attitudes. Yet the change has been more dramatic among some groups than others. In 2004, fully 82% of those 65 and older said they would be upset if their child told them they were gay, and 50% said they’d be very upset. Today, only about half (47%) say they’d be upset and just 24% say they’d be very upset.

Among Republicans, the percentage saying they’d be very upset if they learned their child was gay or lesbian also has fallen by half – from 44% to 22% – since 2004.

In other bad news for the white Christofascists and their white supremacist allies in the GOP base, public acceptance of interracial marriage has likewise increased markedly:

The public also takes a more positive view of another social trend – more people of different races marrying each other. Currently, 37% say this is a good thing for American society, up from 25% in 2011 and 24% in 2010. About half (51%) say more interracial marriage does not make much difference, compared with 64% in 2011 and 61% in 2010. About one-in-ten (10%) continue to view this as a negative trend for American society.

 We can likely expect increasingly hysterical rhetoric from the "godly folks" and "family values hate groups as it becomes increasingly clear that their propaganda campaigns are not working.  Some would even say that the nastiness of this propaganda is helping the cause of LGBT equality as it hastens the decline of the Christian brand.