Have we finally turned the corner on same sex marriage? Perhaps

As of August of this year, 12 states and the District of Columbia will have legalized same-sex marriage (MA, CT, IA, VT, NH, DC, NY, WA, ME, MD, RI, DE, and MN).  Read more about state legalization here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Same-sex_marriage_in_the_United_States

A new poll by the Pew Research Center sugggests that we may have turned the corner on same-sex marriage.  At least that is what the overwhelming majority of Americans think.  Nearly three-quarters of Americans, including nearly 60% of Americans who oppose same-sex marriage say they now think that the legalization of same-sex marriage in the United States is inevitable.  That is a substantial change from 10 years ago when only a bare majority of Americans (59%) thought same-sex marriage was inevitable.

Why the change?  

The Pew poll suggests that more Americans accept same-sex marriage because more Americans now know someone who is openly gay or lesbian including a family member or close friend.

Gay and lesbian Americans who came out over the last several decades did this country a great service.  They allowed Non-gay/lesbian Americans to get to know them.  And guess what?  Straight Americans discovered that gays and lesbians weren't strange or dangerous or deviants or even that unusual.  They were just normal Americans who wanted nothing more than to be treated like everyone else.

Here is a chart from Pew that tells the story.  You can also see it and read more about the poll here.

Source: http://www.people-press.org/2013/06/06/changing-attitudes-on-same-sex-marriage-gay-friends-and-family/