Same-sex marriage has surfaced as a topic of conversation in American politics during the past few weeks. Two landmark cases were heard in the US Supreme Court, one challenging California's controversial Proposition 8, which bans same-sex marriage in that state, and one contesting the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act, which prohibits federal recognition for same-sex unions.
Many Montevallo students joined in a nation- and world-wide movement to change their Facebook profile pictures to reflect their support for LGBT equality. LGBT allies sported a red-on-pink version of the logo for the Human Rights Campaign, the nation's most visible LGBT advocacy group. While the HRC's politics are controversial in the LGBT community, the symbol was widely regarded as a tool to spread awareness of changing attitudes.
The popular "equals sign" logo spread virally on Facebook.
The national conversation also led to several spirited conversations through social media, including on the controversial "Montevallo Confessions" page.
The conversation has also bled over into the classrooms, where UM professor Glenda Conway says students in her Constitutional Rhetoric class are reflecting the national shift in opinion. Conway told us how she's seen opinions move toward support for same-sex marriage in recent years, so that nearly all of her students now support marriage equality.
That shift is mirrored in national polls. Nearly all polls now show at least half of Americans support same-sex marriage, and a recent poll by Southern Baptist organization Lifeway shows up to sixty-three percent of Americans consider marriage equality inevitable.
The Supreme Court will announce its rulings in the two cases in June. Currently nine states and the District of Columbia have legalized same-sex marriage.
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