NY Has a Gay New Time

I don't have actual statistics on this, but if you saw a CNN poll (seeing as this would be a fairer representation of the national electorate than MSNBC or Fox News) around 2004 around your opinion of gay marriage, it would be around split, possibly with a lean towards no.  Something to the extent of 45% voting support of gay marriage and 55% opposing it (or maybe one of those weird polls where 53% vote opposition and 2% vote not sure, presumably due to not knowing what the words "gay" or "marriage" mean).  Today, in light of New York becoming the sixth state to legalize gay marriage, it splits 62% yes and 38% no.

It doesn't seem like society has changed that radically in the last seven years, but nearly one-sixth of the country has changed its opinion from opposition to gay marriage (my personal compromise: I'll say gay marriage as opposed to same-sex marriage, but I will never refer to opposing gay marriage as "supporting traditional marriage", for the obvious reason that it's an absurd phrase) to support of it.

This is a bit on the peculiar side if you think about it.  Noticeable changes have occurred on many issues, many more blatantly than with gay marriage (Iraq War support would be a good example).  But with Iraq, new facts have come through which have affected peoples' opinions--a lack of discovered WMDs, a lack of exit plan, etc.  In terms of gay marriage, what has really changed about the issue?  More openly gay celebrities maybe?

I suspect the reason that peoples' opinions of gay marriage have changed is because over time, people take more and more liberal positions on issues in which there is no harm done.  For some asinine reason, gay marriage is often considered a twin issue with abortion--but given that abortion opponents view abortion as akin to murder and gay marriage opponents view gay marriage as a poor lifestyle choice, the comparison isn't particularly valid.

Often, a major argument with gay marriage is that people once viewed homosexuality as a choice and now view it as natural.  As far as I'm concerned, it doesn't particularly matter whether homosexuality is by choice or natural.  Rather than compare it to, say, the civil rights movement of the 1960s, I prefer to compare it to the sexual revolution of the same era.  Nobody is arguing that increased sexuality in society is "natural" per se--it's pretty damn easy to control sexual activity, but attitudes have changed radically in the last half century because it's really a no harm, no foul situation.  Most Americans would agree in the legality of pornography (assuming the people consent/are of age/etc.) but would not have fifty years ago because nobody is being hurt.  With gay marriage, nobody is being hurt.

Because nobody is being hurt by gay marriage, you might as well get used to it.  I can't tell you in thirty years whether taxes will be higher or lower than they are now, but I can guarantee you beyond a reasonable doubt that gay marriage is legal in more than six states.