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Yesterday something historic happened. A sitting president and current candidate for the office stated his support for same-sex marriage. This is monumental because as little as ten years ago a president making such a statement was almost unthinkable.
It was, after all, only 16 years ago that the Democratic President Bill Clinton signed the Defense of Marriage Act, which codifies the federal non-recognition of same-sex marriage. The law easily won approval in Congress with broad bipartisan support. At the time Gallup found only 27% of Americans thought same-sex marriage should be valid while 68% of the country opposed it.
Same-sex marriage was once a fringe idea supported by only a tiny minority of the population and almost no politicians, yet in less than a generation things have completely changed. It now has the support of half the population and the de facto leader of one of the two major political parties.
Marriage equality is a fascinating example of how a country can rather quickly undergo a paradigm shift — an example of how, through activists, efforts to build public acceptance in the popular culture and demographic changes a fringe idea can become part of the political mainstream.
It is a particularly useful example for the marijuana legalization movement, which is experiencing an almost identical trend of rapidly growing support driven by a younger generation. As with marriage equality, less than 20 years ago marijuana legalization was an incredibly fringe issue with little popular or political support. In 1995, just 25% of Americans thought it should be legal, with 73% thinking it should be illegal.
Yet just 16 years later in 2011, Gallup found 50% thought marijuana should be legal and only 46% thought it should be illegal — putting popular support for marijuana legalization right on par with that for same-sex marriage
As with both marriage equality and marijuana legalization, much of the change in popular support is generational, thanks to a young, highly accepting generation replacing an older more conservative one. In 2011, 62% of adults under 30 thought marijuana should be legal but just 31% of those over 65 thought it should. An almost equal generational divide exists for marriage equality. That same year 68% of those under 30 supported it but only 33% of senior citizens thought that it should be allowed. For both issues, the nature of demographics should continue to push public support up for years to come.
The support of a sitting president for marriage equality is a powerful tipping point for the issue. It clearly signaled that this once highly fringe position is now firmly in the political mainstream. Looking at the similar polling and demographic trends for marijuana legalization, it might not be long before it experiences a similar symbolic victory publicly signaling its emergence as a mainstream political stance.
9 Comments
…with the caveat that he supports same sex marriage only in states that allow same sex marriage.
Amazing what money can buy these days.
But, you know, Hope and Change and Transparency.
Uhhh…Jon, he only did it because there was a shitstorm building on his head. Exactly like the one that built after he canned Shirley Sherrod.
The sound of Gay checkbooks slamming shut, along with the rising calls for the DNC to move their convention out of Charlotte was a hell of a lot more “historical” (and LOUDER) than this jellyfish of a president making a frantic call to gin up an “interview” to try to cover his ass and to stop the political bleeding.
To have you praising Barack Obama for “coming out” AFTER the ass-kicking that Gays took in N.C., instead of, beforehand, risking a little political capital by, straight-up, getting into the pulpit and reminding everyone of the hate, discrimination, and violence that Gay people have been exposed to since forever, is disappointing, to say the least.
I hope that phalanxes of people show up in Charlotte outside the convention, it’ll be a democratic nightmare and one that they will richly deserve for not standing up and being counted before the vote on this awful piece of legislation took place.
The only “paradigm shift” that took place is that the conservatives were able to turn the clock back because democrat leaders in general laid down like dogs, and because Barack Obama hid under his desk until the damage was done, at which point he came out and tooted a bit on the “I support it, but with states rights too!” flute.
You’ve been on to some good stuff lately. How could you roll over this easily?
Just a little adjustment on the generational influence for marijuana. I’m a hair older than baby-boomer and came of age in mid-60′s to mid-70′s. You could walk down the sidewalk blowing a joint and offer a toke to the cop on the beat to get a smile. I grew pot in the back yard and sold it by the shopping bag full for a hundred bucks.
Our favorite haunt was a bar in Hartford that was popular with off-duty cops. The cops took the stools at the bar and the hippies took the booths in back to smoke their brains out. My generation does not have the problem with marijuana that the generation BETWEEN mine and the young one has. (Unfortunately, that’s the one with all the power and the War on Drugs makes money, as well as more power, for them.)
It’s all about the money.
Powerful corporate interests oppose Marijuana legalization..Big Pharma, Prison, Alcohol to name a few.
What powerful corporate interests oppose gay marriage? Opposition to gay marriage by groups like “Focus on the Family” is more about moral opposition than financial.
That is why Obama won’t go near the issue of Cannabis legalization…he knows who pads his campaign coffers. Endorsing gay marriage only pisses off the Christian right; a group that hated him anyway.
Thats perfect and right on:)
We’re being told that one in six, 16.6% of Obama donors have been identified as gay. What percent of his donors support legalizing cannabis?
it might not be long before it experiences a similar symbolic victory publicly signaling its emergence as a mainstream political stance.
Hopefully he’ll come back down to the real show.
Because there is absolutely no coincodince of timing between the crap storm he has been covered in regarding cannabis law reform the last few weeks, including a 4/20 raid victim being almost killed by the dea while inforcing Obama’s personal war on Medical Marijuana, and Obama magically seeing the light on equal rights for same sex couples (in certain parts of the United States of course, I mean obviously he wouldn’t want to support overall equality.) Anyone who follows drug law reform would have noticed the redirection that Obama started doing, using biden first to open the gates, a few days after the 6 largest drug law reform organizations in the country began banding together for nation wide protests, a bill in congress to defund the dea from breaking state laws to enforce federal, the release of the first commercials for legalization in the states it is on the ballot, little miss nancy p coming out and directly condemning his administration for their raids oh yeah and the whole almost killing a non violent cannabis user who was dragged out of a house and then left to die in a holding cell for 5 days.
For the love of what ever it is you believe in stop trying to make him look like he is not a hypocrite and/or a liar because that makes you a liar and if you support reform it also makes you a hypocrite. He has made it clear where he stands on drug law reform. He literally just lied to rolling stone about medical marijuana, and his own ag called him out on it. He lied about the doj hands off policy, he lied about applying scientific integrity to the ondcp, he lied about changing the drug war budget, I mean really, I’m pretty sure, the only thing he didn’t lie about this term was having a birth certificate that shows he was born in this country. He will not be a better president if he is elected again, if anything he’ll be worse because he doesn’t have to pretend in order to get re-elected again because everyone can only have 2.
On a side note, it does make me happy he was forced to make this move because all people deserve freedom and equality and I’m fine waiting a little longer for drug law reform if it means equality for homosexuals, bisexuals and transexuals around this country.
Also, I appologize for improper spelling, lack of caps, et cetera. Doing this on a tablet is really not easy, especially when you are dyslexic .