New Poll Today Shows Scalia’s Fear That Same-Sex Marriage Is ‘Unpalatable’ Is True For Very Few

Justice Antonin Scalia on Tuesday argued same-sex marriage is “unpalatable” to people of faith, and therefore should not be made legal nationwide. A new poll out today shows how ludicrous that is.

“I’m concerned about the wisdom of this Court imposing through the Constitution­ a requirement of action which is unpalatable to many of our citizens for religious reasons,” Scalia said during Tuesday’s oral arguments of Obergefell v. Hodges, the same-sex marriage case that will decide the fate of millions of gay people.

Scalia, a 79-year old ardent Roman Catholic, as NCRM reported yesterday, was clearly vocalizing his desire to protect people of faith at the expense of same-sex couples. He was also ignoring the often ignore fact that the vast majority of LGBT people, like the vast majority of Americans, are people of faith. And he was also ignoring the fact that many people of faith who are not LGBT support the right of same-sex couples to marry.

The fact Scalia also ignored is that civil rights are not a popularity contest. It’s not majority rule, or a test to see how few people we can make uncomfortable.

LOOK: Scalia Insists Pastors Will Be Forced To Marry Gay Couples If Supreme Court Rules For Equality

If your civil right is “unpalatable” to me, and if it does not infringe on my ability to live my life, or if you don’t try to use it to infringe on how I live my life, them by and large, too bad for me.

But for the sake of argument, let’s look at how many people Justice Scalia is worried will see same-sex marriage as “unpalatable.”

We already know of last week’s ABC News/Washington Post poll, showing 61 percent of Americans support same-sex marriage. 

But today, in light of the recent questions being asked of GOP presidential hopefuls, we have even more data.

The vast majority of Americans would attend a loved one’s wedding to a person of the same sex.

And yes, Justice Scalia, even the vast majority of your Republican base.

A Reuters/Ipsos poll released today finds overall, 68 percent of Americans would attend a loved one’s same-sex wedding. Only 19 percent, less than one in five, would not.

Breaking it down, 56 percent of Republicans would attend, as would 70 percent of independents, and a whopping 80 percent of Democrats.

So really, Mr. Justice, the only thing “unpalatable” at this point about a same-sex wedding, like everyone else’s is probably the chicken-or-fish option.

 

Related:

Did Marriage Win In Today’s Supreme Court Arguments?

Hillary Reacts To Today’s Supreme Court Session

Justice Alito’s Gay Marriage Questions: Could It Legalize Polygamy, Did Ancient Greeks Allow It?

 

Image: U.S. Army Photo by Tommy Gilligan via Flickr and a CC license