Baptist Press News 7/22/03: Nashville TN--A generation gap exists in the country's debate over same-sex "marriage," new research by the Gallup Organization shows. According to the research, 55 percent of adults oppose legalizing same-sex "marriage," while 39 percent support it. However, 61 percent of young adults (ages 18-29) say they support legalizing same-sex "marriage." The 18-29 age bracket is the only one in the poll supportive of the controversial issue. Among those ages 30-49, only 37 percent support same-sex "marriage." The level of support is 40 percent for those ages 50-64, and a mere 22 percent for those ages 65 and older. Gallup's research, released July 22, is based on two separate polls--one of 1,003 adults in June and another of 1,005 adults in May. Richard Land, head of the Southern Baptist Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, attributed the numbers among young adults to two factors: sex education in the public schools and homosexual-friendly entertainment. "Clearly, we are losing the battle for hearts and minds [of young adults] to the pop culture, to MTV, to Disney and ABC, and to the other networks who are constantly bombarding our young people with positive images of homosexuality," he told Baptist Press. Another social conservative, Focus on the Family's Glenn Stanton, told Baptist Press he believes that support among young adults for same-sex "marriage" is thin and is "not gained by strong conviction." It is a "shrug of the shoulders" position reflected in the "whatever" bumper stickers popular among youth, he said. "When you put forth some well-reasoned arguments," minds begin changing, said Stanton, Focus on the Family's director of social research and cultural affairs. "I think we can gain a lot of those young people back."
