By speaking out in favour of same-sex marriage, US president Barack Obama has changed the minds of a significant number of voters who were previously against it. Two weeks ago Obama became the first US president to publicly say that same-sex couples should be able to legally marry. He was prompted to do so after his vice president, Joe Biden, had come out in favour. Subsequent polling by authoritative polling company Ipsos has shown that opposition to gay marriage has sharply dropped, particularly amongst African-Americans and Hispanics. Before Obama's announcement 34% of blacks opposed same-sex marriage. This has now dropped to 23%. Hispanic support for gay marriage has increased from 46% to 52%. The attitude of white Americans has barely changed.
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Monday, 28th May 2012 - 12:28pm