If this viral video shows anything, it's that same-sex marriage is becoming normalized, particularly among younger generations.
The kid's reaction to a same-sex couple is adorable and funny because it's nearly apathetic to a once-stigmatized topic. He asks what it means for two husbands to be together, calls it funny, and joyously points out that all it means is the two husbands love each other. After he loses interests, he decides to play ping pong and invites the married couple to come along — no sign of an earth-shattering experience.
This kid doesn't care that it's two men who are married. And he probably wouldn't care if it was two women who were married. All that matters to him is that these two men are happy, friendly, and in love. After that, he wants to get along with his life, please and thank you.
This is what US District Judge John Jones, who struck down Pennsylvania's same-sex marriage ban yesterday, meant when he wrote, "In the sixty years since Brown [v. Board of Education] was decided, 'separate' has thankfully faded into history, and only 'equal' remains. Similarly, in future generations the label same-sex marriage will be abandoned, to be replaced simply by marriage."
This isn't a long-shot fantasy anymore. Younger generations support marriage equality in overwhelming numbers. And, as of the latest Gallup poll, so do 55 percent of Americans.
This chart says same-sex marriage is coming, like it or not. Older voters might have the voting willpower to push back against same-sex marriages for now, but time will make them a minority.
Well, that's only if courts don't decide the issue before voters and controversy-phobic lawmakers. After today's court filing in Montana, only two states don't have official challenges against their same-sex marriage bans. And activists in South Dakota are promising a challenge in the near future, which would leave North Dakota all by itself.
So, yes, the kids' reaction in this video is very adorable. But the spirit of his reaction is also what all these charts and maps are talking about. It's what growing support for same-sex marriage looks like on the ground.
