“All the southern states except for West Virginia have a constitutional ban against same-sex marriage, which requires an amendment to repeal the previous one,” writes Harry Enten.
“The process for doing so in many southern states requires a majority in the state legislature, which is to say that voters can’t just petition to get something on the ballot…
Republican control is a big deal because though the rest of the country has moved, Republicans, especially southern Republicans, have not. Only 26% of Republicans support gay marriage. The percentage of Americans in favor of same-sex marriage rose by 15% over the past decade; the percentage of Republicans favoring gay marriage only rose by 3% over the same period. That’s a growth rate of only 0.3% a year.”
