Why did the overton window on same-sex marriage shift so quickly during Obama’s first term?

[darklordoftech]

What happened from 2008 to 2012 that shifted the overton window so quickly?

[brucejoel99]

The window really shifted a lot as calls grew for more & more states to legalize (or for courts to order them to do so, particularly from 2012-2015), & once SCOTUS decided in favor of Obergefell, it was all over.

[buritobr]

I think the view on homosexuality was one of the fastest big shift of public opinion in the history of manking. Until the 1960s, homosexuality was a crime in some developed countries. In the 1990s, while supporting same-sex civil unions, the most progressive political leaders used to make clear that they were supporting civil unions, and not marriage, because they thought marriage would have a big opposition. In the 2010s, even conservative political leaders accept same-sex marriage.

[Kingpoleon]

I do want to remind everyone: it’s not impossible for this to swing back the other way. A handful of clever evangelical leaders, who become very popular without taking a stance, could swing the country in the opposite direction after building popularity and “bringing the country back to God.”

[politicallefty]

I think the spark was Prop 8 passing in California in 2008. To say that was a stinging and monumental defeat for pro-marriage equality forces doesn't really say enough to the point, a defeat right in the heart of Blue America and also an attempted reversion of rights. I suppose a cogent war analogy in terms of perceived ramifications might be Churchill and the Fall of Singapore. To this day, I'm still stunned that Prop 8 ever passed. However, I'm not sure that it would've moved quite as fast otherwise.

Without question, I think that was what really galvanized the forces for marriage equality to pick themselves up from a monstrous defeat and retool the arguments for the general public and the courts. The courts were obviously a major part of the battle and the wins basically snowballed until SCOTUS was finally forced to take it up. In that realm, I think there was a perceived nod of approval even before the final decision in that the Supreme Court constantly refused to stay any decisions approving of gay marriage.

The other part of the battle was cultural. Part of it was Hollywood and pop culture of course (think mainstream shows like Modern Family), but also just talking about the issues and being visible. That last part was important because LGBT individuals are your family and your friends. They can even be your children. (That differs a lot from other issues like race. Your own kid can turn out to be gay. As the video link shows, you don't have to come out black to your parents.) And particularly on the marriage aspect, they showed that they're just like everyone else (wake up, go to work, raise kids, and all the other parts of domestic life).

A little stand-up comedy that does make some good points: link.

[vitoNova]

Black man president.

So anything was seen as possible.  

Also, marijuana legalization in blue states.    

Women allowed in combat career fields in the military.  

Gayz allowed to serve as well. 

The Obama years were the Golden Era of Social Liberalism.

[Orser67]

It really is remarkable how much things shifted in a relatively short amount of time, e.g. this Pew poll shows that the country went from basically 60-30 opposing gay marriage to 60-30 supporting gay marriage between 2004 and 2017. I do think that Hollywood played a pretty major role in normalizing gay relationships among the broader public: Ellen DeGeneres famously came out as gay in 1997, and Ellen was followed by Will and Grace, a very successful show that co-starred a gay character, and Brokeback Mountain, which portrayed a gay relationship.

[Indy Texas]

Because people became aware that many of their friends, family members and coworkers were gay and that they were perfectly nice, ordinary people and being married wasn't going to cause the universe to collapse on itself.

Compare that to the much slower acceptance of interracial marriage: most white people still did not (and do not) socially mix with black people so there was a lot more residual distrust.

[gerritcole]

Katy perry - I kissed a girl

[Property Representative of the Harold Holt Swimming Centre]

A lot of bad things have happened over the course of my lifetime, but this is one area where there has been genuine progress. In my (British and non-religious) schools that I attended in the 1990s and 2000s, the average reaction to homosexuality was probably mild disgust or bemusement.

On the specific matter in the thread title, it may have been a case of "oh look, state x has legalised SSM and the world didn't end".

[Hope For A New Era]

On a bit of a Strauss-Howe kick as of late.

If you look at it through the lens of generational theory, it's because 2008 was a transition.

The High and Unraveling are periods of stability, while the Awakening and Crisis are periods of change. In 2008, we went from Unraveling to Crisis, so we went into a "pro-change" period.

[RINO Tom]

As someone who lived through that era at an old enough age but wasn't quite as into politics ... with hindsight, I think a way larger percentage of people didn't actually care.  There were SO many Democrats who "supported full-benefits civil unions," because that's what their standard bearers supported, so that's what ~Democrats supported~.  Obviously, they never really had an objection to same-sex marriage, at least not a very strong one.  Additionally, I think it was actually a minority of Republicans, too, who really cared that much.  You had your die-hards, sure (probably 30-40% of the party at that time), but there was a big chunk that just repeated the party line of opposing it and would have DEFINITELY compromised on that issue if it meant advancing other conservative causes.

Once you had a sitting Democratic President openly support it, it was a free pass for nearly all Democrats to support it, most independents to support it and then those Republicans who didn't really care to drop it, if not support it openly.  That's a recipe for a very quick change.