According to this survey by the Higher Education Research Institute, college freshmen surpass the general population in support of gay marriage by quite a large gap: 65% of college freshman compared to 39% of the general population support same-sex marriage. And this leap in support also branches across the conservative student population. Check out this piece on Change.org:
Even far right frosh support same-sex marriage at a greater rate than those far right conservatives out there in the working world — 24% to 14% to be exact, or as exact as a research poll can be.
So, these kids have just been shipped off to a new place, full of new people, new ideas and new experiences, and they’re learning how to incorporate all of that into their world view while still maintaining some sense of themselves. And that, somehow, makes them more open to varying forms of human relationships. Huh. When I put it that way, they kind of sound like a decent barometer of the next generation’s views toward same-sex marriage.