Some good news in opinion poll trends. Since it’s pretty clear that age is strongly related to negative attitudes about homosexuality, we’re just going to see this continue. And since attitudes like these tend to be socially reinforcing, I’m betting there’s a critical mass where we see a big, abrupt jump, as older folk either revisit their views or come to find them vaguely embarrassing to openly avow.
The Gay Bomb
June 28th, 2007 · 13 Comments
Tags: Sexual Politics
13 responses so far ↓
1 Or... // Jun 28, 2007 at 4:28 pm
Or, you know, die. I’m not exactly holding my breath for a seachange in attitudes in that generation.
2 razib // Jun 28, 2007 at 4:29 pm
oh my god!!!! this is sssooo *FABULOUS*!!!!
3 FinFangFoom // Jun 28, 2007 at 5:19 pm
It would be more interesting to see opinion polls broken down by geographic areas and urban/rural.
Before Brown v. Board of Education, per opinion polls a majority of the country supported desegregation, just not in the South. I’d expect the disparity between urban and rural is more pronounced than regional one, in contrast to civil rights previously. I.e. it’s probably better to be gay in Birmingham than, I don’t know, upstate New York.
4 John Goes // Jun 28, 2007 at 10:41 pm
Historically hasn’t this gone in cycles?
5 razib // Jun 29, 2007 at 2:38 am
Historically hasn’t this gone in cycles?
no. ancient greece was not an adult gay male utopia. it was a pederasts utopia. there’s a diff. (or so the gay rights community would have you believe 😉
6 joedirt // Jun 29, 2007 at 8:26 pm
In a couple of decades parents will be able to decide to genetically alter a fetus to change sexual orientation while in the womb, and I think it will be very popular to ensure a straight outcome. Homosexuallity is simply undesireable. The vast majority of people would not want to raise a gay child. When I’m a parent I want to beam when my son plays with trucks, excels in sports or gets the girl. I want to see my beautiful feminine daughter blossom into a lady and bear grandchildren. These are timeless dreams. Societies that embrace these ideals create heaven on earth.
7 Julian Sanchez // Jun 30, 2007 at 1:00 am
Are you sure we can’t persuade you to do all of us a favor and forego reproduction?
8 joedirt // Jun 30, 2007 at 10:45 pm
I’m actually really curious why you care so much about gay issues. The only people I know who give a damn about gay issues are gay people. You are straight, so what gives? The fact that any strait man doesn’t see a problem with a gay male couple adopting a male child is absolutely baffeling to me. Sure, if the child is getting out of a horrible situation that’s different. In general though, no-way.
Also, do you think that anyone who opposes gay adoption/marriage etc. is a complete mouth-breathing idiot? I’ve said it before, but you need to get the hell out of DC, I really think your perceptions are skewed. Also, you would find this interesting if you haven’t already seen it. http://nymag.com/news/features/33520/
9 Anonymous // Jul 1, 2007 at 5:08 pm
Most Americans want to live in ethnically homogenous neighborhoods and raise heterosexual children like themselves. Most don’t *hate* gay people or people of different cultures. Indeed, they may view them as exotic spectacles and enjoy a good laugh watching “Will and Grace.” But confronted with homosexuality directly, in the form of a male cosmetics clerk wearing tight revealing clothing and affecting a high-pitched voice, straight people are viscerally repulsed, often against their own progressive principles. The struggle for gay rights has come a long way since Oscar Wilde’s imprisonment, but it will shoot itself in the foot if it keeps clamoring for acceptance and praise on every level of the heterosexual psyche. We’re here, we think you’re kind of queer, get used to it.
10 Adam // Jul 2, 2007 at 5:16 pm
Huh. I would have thought the audience for this blog would be a little more…evolved.
Joedirt, almost everyone I know who gives a damn about “gay issues” is straight, same as me. This fact reflects the mathematical reality that most people are straight, and a lot of us actually, you know, care about things like social justice and bigotry.
I also once managed to give a damn about civil rights issues, despite being white. It was right after viewing a very special episode of Diff’rent Strokes. I lay down and the feeling passed.
11 Chris // Jul 2, 2007 at 6:39 pm
I think there’s a big difference between tolerance and acceptance.
Most straight people (even people with reasonably liberal attitudes on homosexuality) find the actual act itself rather distasteful, and still would rather avoid even contemplating it. Similarly, I think you’re going to unlikely to find people being happy that their kids are gay for quite some time.
However, from a libertarian point of view, tolerance is bliss, (even if resulting from indifference or apathy, I imagine)!
12 Timon // Jul 3, 2007 at 7:36 pm
Joedirt-
Do you not think a certain class of divine-determinists will really prefer the design of geneticists to that of the Almighty? There will be a reliable supply of gay Kansans long after Californians have stopped reproducing altogether. And I am sure they will be fair and corn-fed enough to keep you and Razib worked up for decades to come.
13 Joedirt // Jul 4, 2007 at 10:54 am
Timon, I think Christian Fundamentalists will certainly be divided on this one. However, evidence is pointing to androgen levels in utero as the derterminant of sexual orientation. If androgen regulation is all that is necessary, and not some scary DNA tinkering, then I don’t think it will be as controversial as we might expect.