Some of the best news out of the culture war front has been the fast-growing acceptance of same-sex marriage among Americans of all political stripes. Considering the rancorous debates that have been going on for decades over reproductive rights and racial equality, this has seemed like a rare bright spot in an otherwise intractable polarization on all the issues pertaining to the evolution of our cultural norms around race, gender and sexual orientation. Just last month Gallup released a poll showing that 71% of Americans now approve of same-sex marriage, an astonishing leap forward from only a few years ago.
It's hard to believe that it was only 18 years ago that the Republicans, including the "compassionate conservative" George W. Bush, won the 2004 election partially on the basis of nationwide ballot initiatives banning gay marriage — while Democrats were loudly blaming advocates and supporters of marriage equality for their loss. Republicans used the issue as a favorite wedge during that period to divide Democrats and some of their Christian, Hispanic and Black constituents who were not yet on board with the idea. It was all quite effective. In 2008, they even managed to get Blue California to ban same-sex marriage with a ballot proposition and state constitutional amendment known as Prop. 8. The issue tied the Democrats up in knots, with presidential candidates trying to split the baby by opposing marriage equality but supporting civil unions or making fatuous paeans to states' rights, while Republicans characterized them as out-of-the-mainstream radicals.
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