Aaron Blake reports that though support for same-sex rights has been one of the steadiest trends in the US in recent years, gains in this field have now halted and even reversed somewhat, "largely thanks to Republicans moving in the opposite direction — in some cases, sharply."
"GOP support for same-sex marriage has declined from a high of 55 percent in both 2021 and 2022, to 49 percent in 2023 and now to 46 percent today — a nine-point drop over two years.
Over that same span, the percentage of Republicans describing same-sex relations as 'morally acceptable' has declined from 56 percent to 40 percent — a 16-point drop.
Those are the biggest drops in the decades-long history of Gallup polling these issues."
My take on this: driven by the right-wing Christians that now form their core base, Republicans are looking for someone to hurt.
Immigrants are high on that list. But so are LGBTQ people. Both are vulnerable minority groups useful to the party seeking to demonstrate the power of the faith-based minority over the majority because they serve as object lessons of what can be done to everyone if that minority is in power.
@wdlindsy That number raises a question. Are Republicans reverting to their traditional homophobia? Or does this merely reflect concentration, large numbers of them having ceased since 2021 to identify as Republican?
(Perhaps I should say: having chosen to abandon the Republican lifestyle.)
@marcas I think all those questions are good to ask. Part of me wants to say that they never meant it when they claimed to be supporting gay rights a few years ago. Another part of me recognizes that they are now an overtly fascist party and like all fascist groups, they whip each other into line. If the religion-based core of the party wants repression of LGBTQ folks, then the whole party has to follow lockstep.
@wdlindsy probably so. And then, so much for critical thinking. 🙄. When the US becomes a theocracy, those same fools can be burned at the stake, literally or figuratively.
@deepmud They seem to have learned nothing from the Nazi period and the Holocaust when Jews long acculturated in German-speaking countries counted on their integration into society, their accomplishments, their service to their country, would shield them. They learned, sadly, that in the eyes of the Nazis, a Jew was a Jew.