No one would have thought here in Ireland that a country once so heavily Catholic would smash through the Same Sex Marriage Referendum we had. We got there and I'm sure Australia will too.
Younger generations are by in large much more open and tolerant than older, which is helping shift societies. Partly thanks to education too as younger minds develop. I can make an observational bet, that in most cases if you find someone aggressively opposed to something like homosexuality they'll be an older religious person. Not all, no, but the stats routinely show changing the mind of an older person is the most challenging. Mix religion with old age and it can be a hell of a challenge. All of the Abrahamic religions have seriously patriarchal, bigoted, violent or discriminatory teachings and statements, especially around homosexuality. Of course, as many point out the Churches obsess over gay men, conveniently often ignoring lesbians. I wonder why? Might it be a combination of projection (some of them end up being gay if not paedophiles) and lusting for female on female because lesbian sex is gratifying to them? Hypocrisy in the Churches, imagine that! If you want to talk disgust sensitivity in patriarchal and bigoted men, yes, the act of thinking about penises and men having sex is up top. As I said though, many damn well love those lesbians! A hugely funny take on this too is how they probably enjoy a good bit of anal sex with a female being the star of receiving. Anal sex with men though? Blasphemy! Ban it! Heresy!
A lot of younger people are either not religious at all, or they subscribe more to what I like to coin cafeteria-Catholicism/Christianity/Islam. Pick the things you like, ignore the rest, regardless of how dogmatic your Book/Church/Priest/Imam or so on is. Heck, lots of the people that want to call themselves Christian or Catholic these days and say they believe in God won't even attend Church or attend it regularly. Some of them I genuinely think just hold onto the descriptor Christian/Catholic as their parents told them they were a "Christian/Catholic child" and it's just kind of stuck to them. All of that shouldn't really bother anyone, religion should be a private matter, an individual matter. It's when it (religion/religious people) tries to be a moral busy body political organisation and get in the way of progress, that people hit back/criticise/satirise and attempt to educate.
My parents are both religious and I was raised, Christian. My dad, however, is Catholic, and is against gay marriage and thinks homosexuality is a sin. Thankfully he keeps that bigotry quiet in day to day life and when I see them and have a religious debate he's not aggressive to me but does try to deflect saying "I don't hate the people, I just don't agree with what they do". In on itself, a hugely frustrating deflection. "I'm going to allow this book to think on behalf of me and do whatever I can to bend over backwards to be a
polite bigot". He says the Priest and Church he goes to openly states how homosexuality is a sin and that's the word of God, the Bible and the Church. As many religious people will do. We're taught this, it's the word of God, we have to accept it. Funnily enough my Dad votes for the gayest political party up here. So yeah, at least in that sense he's furthering social progress on a political level. Most political parties in the UK will support gay marriage though, even if there is individual bigots. UK widespread belief is just too tolerant now coming out hard on gay marriage/homosexuality will tank your popularity. Look at the Conservatives getting into bed with the DUP and the uproar across the rUK.
If you go on
https://www.theyworkforyou.com/ and look up many Conservative MPs you will still see their individual voting records on homosexuality/gay marriage are terrible.
