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Drop in Support for Gay Marriage is no Cause for Alarm

Drop in Support for Gay Marriage is no Cause for Alarm
A new survey from Pew shows that support for marriage equality has dropped five percentage points since the start of the year, but there’s no need for gay and lesbian couples to panic — at least not yet.

The poll is just one of eight conducted this year, and shows support at 49% to 41% opposed. But all seven other surveys in 2014 show support at over 50%. That includes a Gallup survey from May of 2014 that shows support steady at 55% since last year, and climbing steadily up from 50% in 2010.

What’s more, a second survey released last week shows support climbing to 56%. That survey is from CBS and The New York Times, and the same poll showed support at 51% in 2012.

In addition, a March survey from the Washington Post and ABC put support at 59%. The year prior, it was 57%, and in 2012 it was 51%.

In other words, though the Pew findings may seem disheartening, they are way out of line with every other major national survey conducted recently.

Taken as a general trend among all surveys, public support for marriage is currently hovering around 56%. Opposition is dropping past 38%.

Of course, it’s possible that the Pew survey represents an extremely sudden and dramatic shift in public opinion. But they likelihood of that is slim, since another survey conducted at the same time showed support far higher.

And over the last two decades, there have been at least 130 reputable national surveys on public support for marriage. (Plus far more at the state level.) During that time, there has never been a time when numbers have not fluctuated somewhat from one survey to the next. But there has also never been a time when the general trend of support for equality has declined.

www.huffingtonpost.com/matt-baume/drop-in-support-for-gay-m_b_5897932.html?utm_hp_ref=gay-voices&ir=Gay+Voices

Kristen Wiig and Bill Hader Mock Reporter's Epic Fail 'Skeleton Twins' Interview: VIDEO

Kristen Wiig and Bill Hader Mock Reporter's Epic Fail 'Skeleton Twins' Interview: VIDEO

Parente

Kristen Wiig and Bill Hader are currently on screen together in The Skeleton Twins, in which they play a brother and sister from a dysfunctional family struggling to reconnect after many years.

KWGN’s Chris Parente attempted to bluff his way through an interview with them after not having seen the film, and made the mistake of asking Wiig about her full-frontal scene, wondering if she has any advice for people on going nude.

Trouble is, there is no nude scene in The Skeleton Twins.

Watch Parente get caught red-faced, AFTER THE JUMP


Andy Towle

www.towleroad.com/2014/09/skeleton.html

St. Petersburg Queerfest Hit With Additional Closures and Attacks from Anti-gay Activists & Police: VIDEO

St. Petersburg Queerfest Hit With Additional Closures and Attacks from Anti-gay Activists & Police: VIDEO

Queerfest

As we reported earlier, the International Queer Culture Festival in St. Petersberg had a rough opening week – with a series of disruptions by numerous anti-gay activists – including lawmaker (and leading sponsor of Russia’s anti-gay propaganda ban) Vitaly Milonov. Now, however, it has become clear that the roadblocks being placed on the festival are coming from more than just anti-gay activists, but from Russian police as well. 

In an updated post, GLAAD reports that QueerFest has faced additional venue closures and harassment – with police attempting on Wednesday to shut down a press conference ironically titled “Who is Shutting Down QueerFest?” Festival organizers have stopped openly publishing festival venues and have opted to streaming events through an online feed. 

Organizers have shared a video of the opening ceremony attack, which you can watch AFTER THE JUMP

You can also head over to GLAAD to see the timeline of anti-gay incidents at Queerfest. 

 


Kyler Geoffroy

www.towleroad.com/2014/09/queerfest.html