You are 30 years older than I am. You and your whole lousy generation believe that the way it was for you is the way it’s got to be. And not until your whole generation has lain down and died will the dead weight of you be off our backs.
That in-your-face pronouncement is from the groundbreaking 1967 film Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, starring Spencer Tracy, Katharine Hepburn and Sidney Poitier. Poitier’s character has fallen in love, and he is arguing with his incredulous father about the possibility of a successful marriage between a black man and a white woman.
He could just as well be talking about the future of LGBT equality in 2010.
On our issues, the divide between the opinions of those under and over 35 is both depressing—how could so many boomers be so wrong?—and encouraging. Unless there is some sort of conservative cultural shock wave, the majority seems destined to shift in time. And there is evidence that the shift is already occurring.
Last week’s repeal of the ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ ban on openly gay military service was stunning for several reasons. Excluding hate crimes, it was the first significant gay rights legislation passed by both chambers of Congress. With eight Republican senators voting in favor, it was a rare example of bipartisan cooperation in these hyper-politicized times. And it had majority support amongst both enlisted military personnel and commanding officers.
“It is time to recognize that sacrifice, valor and integrity are no more defined by sexual orientation than they are by race, gender, religion or creed,” said President Barack Obama.
Repeal is recognition of equal value in a body not only created by government but also charged with one of its most important tasks—national defense. And this is the important part going forward: Once you’ve acknowledged the contribution of gays and lesbians in the military, knowing that many will be injured and die for their country, it requires a callous disconnect to then deny them—and by extension the rest of us—equal rights as citizens, taxpayers, partners and parents. For this, we owe a debt of gratitude to our brave brothers and sisters in arms.
Congress was no doubt responding to opinion polls showing that 58 percent of Americans favor allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly in the military, more than twice as many as the 27 percent that oppose it. But a closer look at the numbers tells another story: Only 44 percent of those over age 65 support the change, while more than 68 percent of those under 30 are in favor.
Age-related differences are even more striking when it comes to marriage.
According to the Pew Research Center, Americans under 30 now support same-sex marriage rights by a slim margin. But those over 30 oppose such rights by a margin of more than two to one, and those in their 60s and 70s oppose same-sex marriage by as much as four-to-one.
“To a large extent, these differences reflect the fact that older Americans have had far less contact with openly gay and lesbian people,” Pew reported.
A recent CNN Poll looked at evolving opinions state-by-state and uncovered that, while no state registered majority support for same-sex marriage in 2004, the situation had changed drastically by 2010. There are now as many as 17 states where a majority supports same-sex marriage rights. (In Florida, 41 percent polled are supportive.)
Additional polling data contains further evidence of the changing tide. For the first time, the percentage of Americans who perceive “gay and lesbian relations” as “morally acceptable” is now greater than 50 percent according to Gallup. And their survey reveals that this new alignment is being led by a dramatic change in attitudes among younger men—a previously homophobic group.
There are likely many reasons for this generational shift in attitudes, but principal among them is the change in popular culture due to a growing multitude of media choices. If you’re over 40 you spent much of your life watching limited, watered-down programming on just three television networks. Now there are thousands of options on hundreds of networks, exposing viewers to far greater variety.
The result? The three top-rated television shows in 1960 were Gunsmoke, Wagon Train and Have Gun Will Travel, all starring white men on horses and set in a time “when right was right and wrong was wrong.” In 2010, the most-watched scripted television series for viewers ages 18 to 49 was Glee, featuring a cast and themes that are both diverse and, well, flat out gay. One episode this season tangled with whether a Rocky Horror revue, including songs about sex with transvestites, is appropriate for schoolchildren. The resolution was ambiguous.
Surely there will be frustrating setbacks along the way to full LGBT equality. And it will occur faster in some places than others. For that I offer up another movie quote, this one from Ghandi, as the title character braces himself during a hunger fast:
When I despair I remember that all through history the way of truth and love has always won. There have been tyrants, and for a time they can seem invincible, but in the end they always fall. Always.
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