One of the amazing things in comparing the the struggle against anti-miscegenation laws and the struggle for gay marriage is how the rate of change in public opinion is accelerating.
How is this possible? The taboo against gay marriage is, if anything, older and more universal that the taboo against racially-mixed marriages. How does a much older and stronger taboo appear to be dissolving more quickly than the taboo against interracial marriage?
The answer came to me while reading an article on CNN about
Franklin County Mississippi, a place which claims to have no gay citizens:
Dorothy Creech, a 74-year-old woman who lives in a big white house with two rocking chairs on the porch, said she never has encountered a gay person in the flesh, but she wouldn't be bothered by it if she did, partly because she loves "The Ellen DeGeneres Show." "I don't agree with her lifestyle, but I wouldn't hold it against her," Creech said of the dance-happy, lesbian talk-show host. Gay people would have a fine time of it if they did live here, she said, since folks are so friendly to people of all types.
I think the reason that attitudes about homosexuality have changed so rapidly is MEDIA. The arts have always been a haven for gay people. Think about how many TV show with gay characters in the last 15 years.
And polling tells us that there is a great age divide on the issue. Those who grew up around people who were 'out of the closet' are much more likely to accepting of gay life styles.
For interracial couples, there was no corollary to the explosion of gay characters on Television shows. The closest thing I can remember was the movie '
Guess who's coming to Dinner?' with Sydney Potier and Spencer Tracy.
But I think it has been the steady 'drip...drip...drip' of seeing people in normal situations doing normal things on your TV screen night after night that changes opinions. As far as the current Supreme Court battle goes, I think the Court will try to stay away from a sweeping ruling.