How Show Biz Shaped The Marriage-Equality Debate
by Ted Johnson
The run up to Tuesday and Wednesday’s historic Supreme Court hearings on same-sex marriage is being greeted by an array of up-close-and-personal profiles of plaintiffs, change-of-opinion reversals from political leaders and polling that underscores a relatively rapid shift toward approval.
That swing of public opinion is a contrast to the much slower timing of past civil rights struggles, and explanations are open for debate. But more than a few have attributed the acceptance to entertainment, or the idea that the thruline of primetime shows, from Ellen to Will & Grace to Modern Family, brought gay characters and then same-sex relationships.
Vice President Joseph Biden said as much last year on Meet the Press, and on Real Time with Bill Maher on Friday, Maher said the same.
A Pew Research Center survey unveiled last week was yet another poll that showed the swing toward approval of gay nuptials: 49 percent to 44 percent, a reversal from the 58 percent to 33 percent split a decade ago.
More than a quarter of the recent poll’s respondents said their views had changed toward support, and of those, 32 percent said the reason was that they knew someone who is gay. Some 25 percent said they have “grown more open” and “thought about it more,” and 18 percent said it is “more prevalent,” “it’s inevitable” and “the world is just different now.”
Those who have changed their minds aren’t explicitly citing primetime programming, but it’s not too much of a leap to assume that the entertainment culture contributed to an atmosphere of acceptance.
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