As the Supreme Court takes up same-sex marriage on Tuesday, a growing number of young Republicans are waving the white flag in the culture war over gay weddings — with many opting to focus on economic issues instead.
That shift is evident among conservative youth from GOP college activists to young right-leaning Beltway pundits to heartland churchgoers under 30, political and religious leaders say.
Richard Land, the president of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, told POLITICO that young members of his community are no longer interested in vocalizing opposition to same-sex marriage.
“Basically, they just don’t think it’s something we want to talk about,” said Land, who strongly opposes same-sex marriage. “[They say,] ‘It feels intolerant. We believe what we believe, they have a right to what they want to believe. Marriage should be a church thing, not a legal thing.’”
Pretty much anything that makes Richard Land sad is cause for celebration, but in this case you’re going to want to keep the champagne corked for now. Republican youth are still mostly bigoted, with not even 40% supporting marriage equality. However, that’s a big swing from 2007-2008, when 70% of that same Republican age group opposed same-sex marriage.
They’ve come a long way, but they’ve got a long way yet to go.
