An interesting article by sociologist Alan Wolfe concludes that
the American public is growing increasingly gay tolerant, as shown
by majority opposition to sodomy laws and other positive indicators
of growing support for gay acceptance. Wolfe observes in
Are Republicans Making a Mistake Supporting Santorum?
that:
by backing Santorum, President Bush and most other Republicans have apparently concluded that, as conservative activist Gary Bauer put it, Santorum's views reflected the American mainstream.
But I don't think that's quite right. The administration most likely was blindsided by Santorum's outburst, and when confronted with it tried to find a middle ground that wouldn't seem too intolerant but wouldn't alienate the religious conservatives, either. I read an online discussion arguing that when Bush supported Santorum as "an inclusive man" he intentionally was defending the principle of inclusion as a good thing for Republicans to uphold, while deliberately ignoring the substance of Santorum's remarks about homosexuality.
Whether that's too generous toward Bush or not, it's clear that social conservatives are still fuming over the lack of administration support for the anti-gay views Santorum expressed -- a fact that both the mainstream and the gay media have ignored.
By the way, a new
poll shows 7 in 10 adult Americans support the U.S. Supreme
Court overturning same-sex sodomy laws. In just a few weeks, we'll
have a decision which, if positive, could provide a major boost
toward equal treatment for gays under the law and get us well past
the debate over whether gays should be legally persecuted. At least
the Santorums of the world wouldn't be able to keep claiming
they're only expressing agreement with nation's highest court (in
its notorious Bowers ruling upholding, though unlike
Santorum not advocating, state sodomy statutes).