WAKE UP, MAGGIE

I think I’ve got something to say to you. Maggie Gallagher’s latest fusillade on same-sex marriage polls omitted the most recent national poll that showed virtually no change in attitudes over the last year – and even a small rise in support for legal protections for gay couples. She also ignored another poll (although, to be fair, she was only citing national ones). That poll was in the one state where marriages have been legal for almost a year now: Massachusetts. Here we have a classic test-tube experiment in one state, where people can examine the impact of the reform close-up. What do the polls now show? In less than a year, support for equality in marriage has risen a full 18 points, a massive increase in support to a clear majority of all Massachusetts residents. As I’ve pointed out many times before, civil marriage is also much more popular among lesbians than gay men (just as it is more popular among straight women than among straight men). It’s gender, stupid. On the monogamy and social stability front, you therefore actually have a net increase in monogamy in civil marriage (women are more monogamous than men), you have more stability for the children of same-sex couples, and you have social support for those gay men who want the responsibility and status of marriage to cement their relationships. Notice also, in this excellent article, why civil unions are no substitute for civil marriage. The piece cites on lesbian couple: “Neither woman had been in a serious relationship before they came together three and a half years ago, and neither had been particularly interested in a commitment ceremony or civil union, arrangements they say lack marriage’s emotional core.” For a real conservative, what’s not to like?