There’s a lot more information in this poll besides what I cited in the headline, but that’s what grabbed me:
In the latest Post polling, 61 percent of Republicans think gay marriage should be illegal, compared with 36 percent of independents and 25 percent of Democrats. Overall, 53 percent of Americans think gay marriage should be legal, according to the most recent Post polling, while only 39 percent think it should be illegal.
Since March, the number of Republicans who think gay marriage should be legal has declined 10 points from 39 percent to 29 percent, to about where it was last year.
Among Republicans ages 18 to 44, the numbers are far different and evolving far more quickly — opinion is currently evenly divided at 46 percent.
The piece points out that, even among Republicans, anti-gay sentiment is on its way out, but the fact that fully half of younger Republicans are already on board is wild. I do some volunteer work in local politics around my neck of the woods, and I have a close friend who is one of the most involved Republicans in the county. [Yes, I have Republican friends.] One thing she and I have discussed is what a huge generation gap there is in the Republican party right now, and the fact that many of the younger people she works with are just as repulsed by the anti-gay, anti-everything bigotry of the old guard as we are. The trouble, though, is that the old guard is still in control and will be for a bit longer.
