When we think of those states the US that are likely to be the last to accept same-sex marriage equality, the Bible Belt in the deep south tend to figure highly, with Mississippi and Alabama vying for the top (bottom?) spot. Al Madrigal of The Daily Show does some careful research to see which state gets the trophy and finds a surprising result.
(This clip aired on October 29, 2013. To get suggestions on how to view clips of The Daily Show and The Colbert Report outside the US, please see this earlier post.)
This is a great clip! I’ll try to remember it the next time I think ill of an entire region just because some ambulatory turd said something nasty on Fox News. (Although I do notice that all the pro-gay stuff was coming from young people, with the exception of the photo booth guy who was going to make some money.)
I’ll bet there will be a pretty strong correlation with the order in which states got rid of anti-miscegenation laws.
Actually, as Amanda Marcotte points out, it’s really not that surprising.
She also points out that there are indeed going to be pro-LGBT people in those state, but the thing to remember is they are nowhere close to representing the majority; otherwise gay marriage would be be legal by now in those states.
Marcotte is undoubtedly correct. But as I have said before, all major social changes start with this kind of hypocrisy. It is a step forward when people realize they need to keep their bigoted opinions to themselves because then the new thinking gets established as normal and correct because it is rarely contradicted in public, and the next generation takes it at face value.
Exactly. I don’t think anybody is under the illusion that this means Alabama and Mississippi are ready to embrace marriage equality. But it was heartening nonetheless, especially the applause from the diner patrons at the proposal. I think it’s safe to say that the proposal, at least, would have drawn jeers even just a few years ago.
It is undoubtedly progress to go from people being openly homophobic to being somewhat-ashamedly homophobic.
The outright hostility to it in the opening scenes of that clip (one was a state representative, and the other was..?) makes me wonder if the government officials are truly representative of the states, or if it’s just that the older, generally less tolerant people are the ones who vote. If we could really get close to 100% of eligible voters to the booths for an election cycle, how different would things be?
The two people in the opening segments were not hostile to same-sex marriage at all. One was a civil rights attorney and the other was a newspaper columnist. They were trying to describe what they thought were the sentiments of the people in their states, not their own views. Unfortunately the video did not make that clear enough.
Arizona was the last state to enact Martin Luther King day, and look at their policies towards non-white immigrants. It wouldn’t surprise me to see that as the last one.