Hakohen, good point. The crazy thing is that at least half the country opposes gay marriage. So according to Rahm Emmanuel, none of those 100 million people should be able to open a business in Chicago if they are open about their political position on gay marriage. Unbelievable. This wouldn’t have happened if Obama hadn’t come out in favor.
In Israel, the gay marriage debate will never get to this level — no prime minister would ever say you’re not welcome in my city if you’re not in favor of gay marriage, because they know that a large and growing segment of the population has traditional beliefs and is not going to change their minds. In the US, by contrast, gay rights supporters believe that public acceptance of gay marriage is inevitable.
This is a serious argument for aliyah. Orthodox Jews growing up in the US who come in contact with mainstream culture will, at least in some cases, be ashamed of their religion because it doesn’t fit with the nearly-mandatory pro-toevah views, and abandon Orthodoxy in order to not be considered “hateful” and “backward.” This will never be anywhere near as big of a problem in Israel.