A recent poll by the Public Religion Research Institute found that support for same-sex “marriage” dropped by at least two points last year, and support for “gay rights” anti-discrimination policies fell by four points. Also, opposition to businesses refusing certain services on religious grounds fell by five points. Every major media outlet that reported on these findings quickly assured readers that a large majority of Americans still support gay “marriage” and “rights.” Still, this reversal is significant. It may even suggest a potential backlash, especially since even young Americans are losing their rainbow zeal.
A few days ago, David Von Drehle of The Washington Post scolded pro-lifers for allowing so-called “zealots” to take over their movement after winning the victory of overturning Roe v. Wade. In the piece, he compared pro-lifers to the Khmer Rouge of 1970s Cambodia, which, after its victory, began murdering its own members for trivial “offenses.” In Von Drehle’s mind, pro-lifers who are now calling attention to the ethical problems with IVF are doing the same thing: allowing counterproductive radicals to take over the movement in the wake of a victory.
The irony here is that the kind of radical overreach Von Drehle is talking about is happening, just not in the pro-life movement. Rather, his analysis more closely describes another major political movement that, not too long ago, won a decisive victory at the Supreme Court. In the years since the Court redefined marriage for the whole country in 2015 in Obergefell v. Hodges, the LGBTQ movement has been overtaken by its most radical wing, who has demanded all kinds of new rights.
No sooner had marriage “equality” been achieved, these activists demanded “transgender equality” that included giving men access to women’s bathrooms and lockers, hosting “drag queen story hours” at libraries, providing tax-funded gender transitions, and indoctrinating kids and taking them away from their parents. Some relentlessly persecuted businesspeople, such as cake artist Jack Phillips and florist Barronelle Stutzman, for refusing to join their celebrations. And most began demanding the entire population adopt new language, obey pronoun requirements, and join various “pride” celebrations.
Perhaps then, we shouldn’t wonder that the years-long trend of growing support for so-called gay “marriage” has paused. Perhaps, it is even reversed.