Deb Price
Americans embrace gay-friendly proposals

http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081229/OPINION03/812290326/1008

Gay Congressman Barney Frank likes to tell the tale of the mother who reacts with love and acceptance to the news that her son is gay, but warns him: "Just don't tell your father. It would kill him."

Frank's story illuminates a misimpression, even among gay-friendly Americans -- that other folks' internal thermometer toward gay people and our rights is stuck close to freezing.

But as the nation prepares for a new Congress and president, a recent Newsweek poll indicates that politicians shouldn't run from gay-friendly feelings.

What makes the Newsweek poll especially valuable is that the responses to its wide range of questions underscore that, other than on same-sex marriage, most Americans would embrace steps to pass laws to treat those of us who're gay equally.