Gallup today released a new poll, “U.S. Acceptance of Gay/Lesbian Relations Is the New Normal,” that finds the majority of Americans see gay and lesbian relationships as morally acceptable, rising 18 percentage points over a decade.
This Gallup trend mirrors the growth in public support for legalizing gay marriage, which has risen from 42% support in 2004 to 50% or greater support in the last two years. Americans’ support for gay rights on both questions leveled off in this year’s Values and Beliefs poll, conducted May 3-6.
Gallup’s longer-term question measuring U.S. attitudes about gays asks whether gay or lesbian relations should or should not be legal. The 63% now saying gay relations should be legal nearly matches the record-high 64% of a year ago, which came after a long-term increase in support for legality from 32% in 1986.
But we’re still to there yet.
In response to another long-term trend question, Gallup finds a close division between those who believe being gay or lesbian is a trait a person is born with (40%) and those saying it is due to upbringing and other environmental factors (35%). Americans’ views on the “nature vs. nurture” question have been largely steady over the past decade, but prior to 2001, significantly more Americans believed that homosexuality was a product of upbringing.
With more than a third of Americans agreeing with the loikes of Tony Perkins, that if you just teach your children “the right ways,” they won’t be gay, is ludicrous — and very dangerous to society, and to our children.
Unsurprisingly, Gallup concludes:
Significant pockets of resistance remain — namely Republicans, those 55 and older, Protestants, residents of the South, and, in some respects, men — but majorities of other groups have grown comfortable with gay rights.
Last week The New Civil Rights Movement reported that Republican voters are growing increasingly anti-gay, and support among Republican voters for same-sex marriage is greatly decreasing, with Republican voters’ support for same-sex marriage dropping from 28% the past two years, to only 22% today — far below the average of 50+%, and far below the average of U.S. Catholics, who poll higher than the average American.
Final point: Gallup, a conservative organization, using the term “gay/lesbian relations” rather than “relationships” is  offensive, implying our relationships and marriages are merely about sex.
Related:
Tony Perkins’ Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day
Homosexuality: Born This Way? Only 40% Of Americans Think So
American Support For Same-Sex Relationships Higher Than Ever – New Poll
Gallup: Gay Relationships Top Issue Dividing Republicans, Democrats