There's been several posts going back to last summer in which I described the year 2023 as being, or having been, a MAGA-induced horrific one for LGBTQ folks in these United States. Perhaps I should have struck a more positive note and written instead about the resiliency of those same folks in the face of such Proud Boys-Oath Keepers-Trump-DeSantis-Boebert-Greene-Musk-Gaetz-Rowling (yes, she's British but read by Americans)-Putin (yes, he's Russian but a source of inspiration for Republicans)-Hannity-Carlson-Justice Thomas horrors, if the above poll put out by the Gallup Organization is any indication. As you can see, the percentage of Americans who now identify as LGBTQ has risen slightly over the past few years, and now hovers at 7.6% of the population. And "now" does not necessarily mean forever. According to Gallup, “If current trends continue, it is likely that the proportion of LGBTQ+ identifiers will exceed 10% of U.S. adults at some point within the next three decades.” Why this increase? Are microplastics in the water supply turning people queer? Or is this the 21st century psychosexual equivalent of the Tennessee Valley Authority, gay power now having reached even the most rural parts of the country? Nobody is saying, but keep in mind this is just people willing to state their sexual orientation or gender identity over the phone to a Gallup pollster. At least as far as sexual orientation is concerned, some people won't admit anything to a pollster, or...
...anybody else.
Whatever the final tally ends up being, whether its 7.6%, 10%, some number in between, or--dare I hope? --some number greater, I suspect it will be the number that it's always been, even if we didn't know it at the time, and not just for America but the world at large.
America seems so political now. A gay couple could live next to a straight couple and get along with them perfectly well. Yet the gay couple's neighbour could also be GOP. MAGA and #45 supporters. I know your city is a very civilised place to live. I know so many decent bloggers in the US. I don't get where the deplorables come from and what they really imagine.
ReplyDeleteAndrew, I direct you to this exchange from 1983's The Big Chill:
DeleteSam Weber: Why is it what you just said strikes me as a massive rationalization?
Michael: Don't knock rationalization; where would we be without it? I don't know anyone who could get through the day without two or three juicy rationalizations. They're more important than sex.
Sam Weber: Oh come on, nothing's more important than sex.
Michael: Oh yeah? Ever gone a week without a rationalization?
Just substitute "rationalization" with "compartmentalization" and you might understand why a MAGA might be friendly with a gay neighbor.
As for the larger question of why MAGA folks believe what they do, all I can say is that in the 1950s and earlier what those beliefs were firmly in the mainstream. Maybe they want that firmness back. He who controls the mainstream controls the world!
Andrew, do me a favor and ignore that "what" in between "earlier" and "those"
DeleteOh, and Andrew, it's a big country with a lot of people. Lots of different kinds of people. You generalize about it at your own risk.
DeleteYes, stats have always been dicey, given people's reticence to self-disclose.
ReplyDeleteDebra, it's not 0%, I know that!
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DeleteCis, Latin or not, I don't like it. How about heterogender? HG for short. Or HoG? That;s it, I'm HoG!
ReplyDeleteHoG? Mike, are you trying to tell me you identify as a Harley-Davidson?
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