In addition, the New Jersey senate also just passed their bill, which now goes to the lower house that is said to have a clear majority favoring it. However, Governor Chris Christie has said he will veto the bill. He thinks it should be put to a referendum of the voters, not the legislators, to make this change.
Maryland has a bill in committees now, and it seems to have a fairly good chance of passing.
Two big factors are bringing about this change.
(1) As more and more gay people come out, their family and friends and work associates then know someone personally. And that is the single biggest factor in changing people's minds about this. That is reinforced by more positive images of gay people on TV and in the media. It's all about replacing stereotypes with direct personal experience.
Of course, the basic thing has to have a positive valence. In contrast, as has become a political axiom, the more people get to know Newt Gingrich, the less they like him. Fortunately, broadly speaking, the more people get to "know someone gay," the more they like them, or -- perhaps more aptly -- the less they fear them and the less they see them as "the other."
(2) It's also clearly a generational thing. When poll data are reported by age categories, there is an inverse correlation between age and support for gay marriage. The older you are, the less likely you support it. There is overwhelming support among the youngest adults. So each year, the support naturally grow.
Ralph
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