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Abstract

In the United States, constitutional same-sex marriage bans were a prominent political phenomenon in state and national politics for most of the 2000s, and were ballot items as recently as 2012. Traditionally, this has been addressed as it correlates to Republican party politics and the evangelical Protestant voting bloc, with some attention paid to the opposition to these measures by Democrats. In addition, Catholic voting is viewed as essentially a barometer of the general electorate, not only on this issue but on all issues other than reproductive rights. However, most of this research came out in response to the wave of amendments passed in 2006 and before multiple votes on these amendments in the following years. In addition, while researchers and media outlets pay great attention to the role of Protestant and Republican voters in these elections, there is little discussion of Catholic or Democratic voters' activity regarding constitutional same-sex marriage bans. Reviewing data on religiosity, party affiliation, and voting on such amendments reveals unexpected and unusual connections between Catholic voters and the outcomes of these votes and that Democratic voting on same sex marriage was not unified until the amendments had become a somewhat common practice. In addition, it is a regularly held belief that acceptance of gay marriage by the general populous has been a steady, gradual process over the course of three decades. However, data from these elections suggests there has been at least one point of notable shift in voter behavior.

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