Multimedia: News

Is gay the new black?

by Project Youthanize

Wednesday, May 6, 2009 04:21

In light of all the discussion about gay rights and potential U.S. Supreme Court nominees, Project Youthanize wanted to reexamine the public’s attitude towards gay marriage.

Many people have drawn parallels between the Gay Rights movement of today and African American’s struggle for equality in the 1960’s. Is the struggle for gay rights the civil rights issue of the Millennial generation? What are the similarities? What are the differences? Can we really compare Harvey Milk to Martin Luther King, Jr.?

Millennials tend to be more progressive then the rest of the country on this issue. According to a 2009 CNN Poll, 58% of Millennials support Gay Marriage whereas only 44% of Americans thought that gay people should have the right to marry.

These statistics suggest that America is still divided over this issue. Might this change over time? Are young people going to take up the banner of gay rights and lead America into a new era of equality?

This content brought to you by Project Youthanize, an organization originating at the University of Wisconsin-Madison aiming to engage today’s youth in political issues. You may leave feedback at http://projectyouthanize.org/?p=360.