George Will On Gay Marriage: Opposition Is Literally Dying

George Will’s comments on gay marriage sums up the withering opposition to an issue once seen as key to conservatives — the opposition to gay marriage is literally dying, he says.

Appearing on ABC’s This Week, George Will discussed the news that the Supreme Court will take up two gay marriage cases next year, which could lead to changes for the federal Defense of Marriage Act and California’s Proposition 8. A noted leader in conservative ideas, George Will’s stance on gay marriage could signal a chancing of the guard for opponents to same-sex marriage, UPI notes.

Will pointed to a Politico poll that show opponents to gay marriage as older people, while 63 percent of Americans in the 18- to 29-year-old range support gay same sex-marriage.

Here is what George Will had to say on gay marriage:

“This decision by the Supreme Court came 31 days after an Election Day in which three states for the first time endorsed same-sex marriage at the ballot box —never happened before—Maine, Maryland, and the state of Washington.Now, the question is, how will that influence the court? It could make them say it’s not necessary for us to go here. They don’t want to do what they did with abortion. The country was having a constructive accommodation on abortion, liberalizing abortion laws. The court yanked the subject out of democratic discourse and embittered the argument. They may say we don’t want to do that, we can just let the democracy take care of this.On the other hand, they could say it’s now safe to look at this because there is something like an emerging consensus. Quite literally, the opposition to gay marriage is dying. It’s old people.”

Whether George Will is right on gay marriage may be seen next year as the Supreme Court takes on the same-sex marriage cases, but it appears his sentiment is correct. A recent Pew poll shows national support for gay marriage is growing, reaching 48 percent from 35 percent in 2001.