Did Americans accept homosexual marriage, or did we become resigned to it as it was forced on us through the courts?
I think as cultural became increasingly gay-friendly, more and more Americans discovered they had gay friends, family members, neighbors, and co-workers as these people came out of the closet.
At the same time, many Americans appreciate Trump pushing back against the notion that "everything has to be gay all the time." People are also tired of this.
So, I guess it's a little of both. People will accept gay marriage but are also tired of gay acceptance being forced on them. And acceptance of gay marriage doesn't translate into acceptance of male cross-dressers in the girls' change rooms and forcing Christian bakers to cater to gay weddings.
Look at the trend of the referendums. 2012 NC passed its amendment by the same as CA did in 2000. So 2012 NC was were 2000 era Ca was on the issue, something no one would have predicted in 2000. The court definitely imposed it before too many states would have accepted it, but the trend wasn’t good.
I seriously doubt there is one state that would now pass a marriage amendment by the same or more than it originally did.
Freegards
I won’t even use the phrase without putting it in quotes; Americans were forced to publicly tolerate it, but most still can’t help but be sickened when they realize what one gay man does to another.
A few years ago I saw the movie “Stakeland” on TV, and recently I tried to watch the sequel. When it showed two old queer men (a “mixed race couple”) in a normalized context, I shut it off; it was the most overt social engineering BS, and I don’t want that when I seek mindless violent entertainment. It is beyond not agreeing with it; they are peddling a myth by normalizing a serious, deadly mental illness.
On the other hand, I recently saw a public service short (from the early ‘60s, I believe) called “Boys Beware” - and it very clearly showed the dangers of adult homosexual men preying on teen boys. It described homosexuality as something “as dangerous and contagious as smallpox” - I kid you not. That whole view of the disease was changed for purely political reasons, nothing else. In terms of the threats posed, the movie (in black and white) could have been made yesterday - lurking around public restrooms, cruising near schools/sports fields, etc.