James Taylor
Ottawa University
Social Psychology
June 7, 2016


Attitudes About Same Sex Marriage

On June 26, 2015 same sex marriage was declared the law of the land in the United States. In fact, the Census bureau reported that as of 2013 there were as many as 170,000 same sex marriages reported in the national census (Cohn, 2015). For some, marriage equality  was an amazing victory, for others it signaled the end of days. I myself have been legally married since August 12, 2013, my husband and I got married in San Diego, and it was truly an amazing day. I never thought that I would live to see the day when I could marry the man who is truly my best friend. Our families are from the Midwest (his) and the very Deep South (mine) but the news was really well received. We are lucky to have the support that we do, and are aware that many people are not so lucky. The point of all of this is that I wonder what Joe Public really thinks about same sex marriage, or as I call it, marriage. 

One of the arguments I used to hear is about the sanctity of marriage. Usually this is coming from someone that is on their fourth or fifth marriage, and because it is heterosexual marriage, God does not seem to mind, I guess. I have specifically asked some of my married heterosexual friends how or if my marriage has done harm to their marriage, and they look at me like I am dumb. I think this is a pretty common attitude. 

In a study published by the Public Religion Research Institute in April, 2015 notes that when Massachusets was the first state to legalize same sex marriages, nearly two thirds of those that claimed to be religiously affiliated supported same sex marriages, but no major religious denomination offered approval (Jones, 2015).  I find this interesting because who is the church, if not the people? The study sample was comprised of 40, 571 people from all sects and denominations. 

Not surprising, white evangelical Protestants were the least in favor of same sex marriages, while white mainline Protestants  and  Catholics were largely in favor of these marriages. Not surprising to this writer was the fact that Buddhists overwhelmingly support marriage, and those of the Jewish faith had one of the largest percentages of support at  47% in favor of same sex marriage  (Jones, 2015).

The people that are against these marriages, I wonder if they actually know any gay people? This day and age that seems impossible to me, but I live in a large city  and do not have to censor myself on a daily basis. What is life like for those that do? I spoke to an acquaintance of mine that lives in a rural town in Georgia. He told me it is alright to be gay there, but you have to be discreet. He also said that the Lesbian community seems to get a lot more support than the Gay (male) community (Jenkins, 2016) Homophobia is a funny thing, for straight men the idea of two women being sexually active is attractive, but the thought of two men acting the same way is definitely not attractive to them. I am  basing this on my own casual observations , but if a straight guy (or girl) is reading this, can you please enlighten me? I just don't understand the double standard. 

The social psychology theory I am using to explain all of this is the Social Cognitive Learning Theory of Homophobic Aggression. 

Source

Cohn, D., (2015). How Many Same Sex Marriages in the U.S.? Maybe 170,000. Retrieved from http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2015/06/24/how-many-same-sex-married-couples-in-the-u-s-maybe-170000/

Jenkins, B., (2016) Telephone Interview June 2016. 

Jones, R., (2015). Attitudes on Same Sex Marriage by Religious Affiliation and Denominational Family.  American Values Atlas. Retrieved from http://publicreligion.org/2015/04/attitudes-on-same-sex-marriage-by-religious-affiliation-and-denominational-family/#.V1eIkfkrLIU