clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

Americans are shifting left on almost every social issue you can think of

Romance During the Decadence
Romance During the Decadence
Thomas Coutour

Americans are feeling a lot more permissive about things in 2015 than they did in 2001.

A recent Gallup poll shows Americans are more likely to say that gay sex is morally acceptable, that divorce is acceptable, that extramarital affairs are acceptable, that physician-assisted suicide is acceptable, and even that cloning animals or human beings is acceptable:

Gallup

It's not that these matters are related or even that anything goes — public support for cloning, suicide, and polygamy (among other things) remains distinctly low. But the matter of what is acceptable behavior has widely expanded.

Just about the only things Americans are less likely to accept since 2001? The death penalty and animal testing. While the trend is shifting in a libertarian direction, the rising influence of “cultural liberal” values seem to move along with more libertine views about sex and a growing compassion toward convicted criminals and non-human animals.

Sign up for the newsletter Sign up for Vox Recommends

Get curated picks of the best Vox journalism to read, watch, and listen to every week, from our editors.