Do 49% of Republicans really support same-sex marriage?

[VAR]

Gallup says so.

But I just don’t buy it.

[Amenhotep Bakari-Sellers]

Eric Trump, Foley, Dennis Hassert, all was dealing with the Gay issue and Jim Jordan as well so it's in the R party, they are called Log Cabin Rs

We all remember Larry Craig that doomed Coleman chances of reelection since the incident occurred in MN, the site of RNC and Craig didn't resign, we never heard from him again

[Secretary of State Liberal Hack]

Gallup says so.

But I just don’t buy it.

It's a dead issue socially, after all the sky didn't fall after it happened and even social conservative have realized that there ability to be a majoritrain political force is over.

[AtorBoltox]

They aren't prepared to fight the political war needed to overturn it. This doesn't mean they'd approve of a same sex marriage within their own family, say.

[Badger]

One, it's insane that in 2021 even I majority don't support it. Second, a substantial portion if not a majority of that 49% " support it" as a fait accompli and nothing more.

[dead0man]

To be fair, your favorite recent President was on the "wrong" side of the issue just a decade ago.  Why would you expect the racists and olds to come to the right so quickly?  We should be happy with half of them, even if it's that high for less than optimal reasons.

[Brittain33]

2012 is the year it felt like same-sex marriage had majority support in the country, and 2015 is when it was legalized everywhere. After so many years it can be hard to hold out opposition on this issue.

[VAR]

To be fair, your favorite recent President was on the "wrong" side of the issue just a decade ago.  Why would you expect the racists and olds to come to the right so quickly?  We should be happy with half of them, even if it's that high for less than optimal reasons.

Are you talking about Obama or Dubya?

[dead0man]

To be fair, your favorite recent President was on the "wrong" side of the issue just a decade ago.  Why would you expect the racists and olds to come to the right so quickly?  We should be happy with half of them, even if it's that high for less than optimal reasons.

Are you talking about Obama or Dubya?

sorry for the confusion, I was referring to Obama.  I was talking to the red avatars previous to my post, not you, the OP.

[ꙮ]

It wouldn’t surprise me. The speed with which the national opinion on gays shifted in my short lifetime has been incredible.

[Samof94]

It wouldn’t surprise me. The speed with which the national opinion on gays shifted in my short lifetime has been incredible.

With trans people shifting a lot since 2015.

[🦀🎂🦀🎂]

I don't see how it's so peculiar - its mainly the evangelical hardcore that still hold that torch and they represent about a third of Republicans.

I honestly wonder whether SSM would have a chance of passing in a referendum even in the most conservative of states.

2012 is the year it felt like same-sex marriage had majority support in the country, and 2015 is when it was legalized everywhere. After so many years it can be hard to hold out opposition on this issue.

I think 2012 is the year when the Democrats realised the issue wad not necessarily a losing issue - Biden and Obama endorsing and still being re-elected and four red states either legalising by popular vote or rejecting a constitutional ban.

[Sir Mohamed]

It wouldn’t surprise me. The speed with which the national opinion on gays shifted in my short lifetime has been incredible.

Yup, agreed. I think most GOPers just don't care anymore. Their "priorities" are elsewhere.

[redjohn]

Like others said, I don't believe that 49% of Republicans actively support the idea of marriage, just that 49% are complacent with the fact that it is legal and valid and don't see a path forward for opposition of the institution. If the question were something like, "Do you believe same-sex marriages are equal to opposite-sex marriages," the percentage of Republicans (and Democrats) agreeing would drop quite a bit.

[Oswald Acted Alone, You Kook]

Maybe.

Also, Bush is the only president that doesn't support it.

[Bojack Horseman]

I don't see how it's so peculiar - its mainly the evangelical hardcore that still hold that torch and they represent about a third of Republicans.

I honestly wonder whether SSM would have a chance of passing in a referendum even in the most conservative of states.

2012 is the year it felt like same-sex marriage had majority support in the country, and 2015 is when it was legalized everywhere. After so many years it can be hard to hold out opposition on this issue.

I think 2012 is the year when the Democrats realised the issue wad not necessarily a losing issue - Biden and Obama endorsing and still being re-elected and four red states either legalising by popular vote or rejecting a constitutional ban.

They weren’t red states, it was Maryland, Maine, and Washington that voted to legalize and Minnesota rejected the constitutional ban. It was a fairly close result in all four states but it was a far cry from a few years earlier when even states like Oregon, Colorado, and California voted to ban gay marriage.

It was a strange feeling being a closeted 16/17 year old in 2011-12 navigating a society that was slowly but surely becoming more accepting.

[🦀🎂🦀🎂]

I don't see how it's so peculiar - its mainly the evangelical hardcore that still hold that torch and they represent about a third of Republicans.

I honestly wonder whether SSM would have a chance of passing in a referendum even in the most conservative of states.

2012 is the year it felt like same-sex marriage had majority support in the country, and 2015 is when it was legalized everywhere. After so many years it can be hard to hold out opposition on this issue.

I think 2012 is the year when the Democrats realised the issue wad not necessarily a losing issue - Biden and Obama endorsing and still being re-elected and four red states either legalising by popular vote or rejecting a constitutional ban.

They weren’t red states, it was Maryland, Maine, and Washington that voted to legalize and Minnesota rejected the constitutional ban. It was a fairly close result in all four states but it was a far cry from a few years earlier when even states like Oregon, Colorado, and California voted to ban gay marriage.

It was a strange feeling being a closeted 16/17 year old in 2011-12 navigating a society that was slowly but surely becoming more accepting.

Atlad red states, my friend.

[Santander]

Let's give Republicans credit here - a large portion of the secular wing of the party has evolved on the issue in the past 10 years, just as white liberals have. Sure, some Republicans merely accept it as the law of the land, but that is enough. Many Democrats still don't care about it as a civil rights issue. You can't force people to like each other, and as long as they respect the legal outcome, that's all that matters.

[Ferguson97]

I imagine a significant portion of that 49% just truly don't care or are afraid of seeming bigoted.

[sguberman]

Nevada had a referendum to remove the anti ssm amendment to their constitution last year and it did 22 points better than Biden in the state.

[Horus]

I actually think so. Younger Republicans do not care about this issue, and many actively support LGB rights. This is one of the few bright spots in the Trumpification of the GOP. Obviously trans rights are another matter.

Part of my hatred for GWB, besides his neoconservatism was the lip service he gave to the religious right's homophobia. It was really bad from the mid 90s to the mid 2000s with all the state constitutional bans, growing megachurches and "think of the children" arguments.

[Stand With Israel. Crush Hamas]

There is a significant libertarian streak in the party - not enough to vote for those candidates, but on certain issues. This is one of those issues that isn't seen as worth the fight by a lot of conservatives outside the evangelical sphere.

[Alben Barkley]

I actually think so. Younger Republicans do not care about this issue, and many actively support LGB rights. This is one of the few bright spots in the Trumpification of the GOP. Obviously trans rights are another matter.

Part of my hatred for GWB, besides his neoconservatism was the lip service he gave to the religious right's homophobia. It was really bad from the mid 90s to the mid 2000s with all the state constitutional bans, growing megachurches and "think of the children" arguments.

Yes the religious right does seem to be on the decline. But only because they’ve replaced Jesus with Trump.

[Santander]

I actually think so. Younger Republicans do not care about this issue, and many actively support LGB rights. This is one of the few bright spots in the Trumpification of the GOP. Obviously trans rights are another matter.

Part of my hatred for GWB, besides his neoconservatism was the lip service he gave to the religious right's homophobia. It was really bad from the mid 90s to the mid 2000s with all the state constitutional bans, growing megachurches and "think of the children" arguments.

Yes the religious right does seem to be on the decline. But only because they’ve replaced Jesus with Trump.

It was only a matter of time before they turned on that socialist Jew.

[Oryxslayer]

Most Democratic issues poll better than the Democratic party, which means they enjoy non-negligible support among 2020 GOP voters. See the medicare expansion referendums from the past four years.

The average voter is not polarized on policy positions and does not support everything put up by their party of choice. Studies consistently show that the voting populations average political positions form a bell curve. However, what motivates a voter is key tenants of either their chosen parties platform, or opposition to key tenants of the other parties platform. The rest of the tenants are ignored or not considered important as you vote in line with your values. However, both parties candidates ideally should encompass all their tenants, since that satisfies all the voters.

So yes, a good chunk of Trump voters likely support same-sex marriage. The issue though is unimportant, ignorable, of not considered relevant to their vote. Other issues are more prominent. These issues only become relevant if there is a ballot referendum which asks this question and only this question, so it is a simply yes/no based on issues, no matter how (un)important they are to the voter in question.