Terminator takes aim in US culture wars

Arnold Schwarzenegger, the former California governor, took up arms in the US culture wars on Friday by expressing concern about efforts in Indiana and Arkansas to pass controversial religious freedom laws. But the Terminator star aimed his harshest lines at his own party: "As a Republican I am furious,, he said.

"If the Republican party wants the next generation of voters to listen to our ideas and solutions to real problems, we must be an inclusive and open party," Mr Schwarzenegger wrote in the Washington Post. "We must be the party of limited government, not the party that legislates love."

His warning follows a week that saw the Republican governors of both states reverse course on laws - which critics said could allow discrimination against gays - because of loud opposition from a broad coalition that included Apple, Walmart, civil rights groups and Nascar.

The events in Indiana and Arkansas reignited a debate about the balance between religious freedom and gay rights, but the speed at which companies voiced criticism underscored the shift in attitudes towards gays that has occurred since George W Bush entered the White House in 2001.

The number of people who say gay relationships are "morally acceptable" has risen sharply from 40 per cent in 2001 to 58 per cent last year, according to Gallup. That has implications for the 2016 White House race, and especially for Republicans who need the support of the conservative base to win the party's presidential nomination.<

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Social issues have not topped the agenda in the past two US elections. Yet the fact that most of the Republican presidential hopefuls - including frontrunner Jeb Bush - backed Indiana governor Mike Pence before he reversed course on the Religious Freedom Restoration Act highlights the importance of the base.

"The conservative base has for the past 10 years been a very powerful force in the Republican primaries," says Jocelyn Kiley of the Pew Research Center.

According to Pew, 49 per cent of the population support same-sex marriage, while the number for Republican voters is 34 per cent. But among white evangelicals, a core part of the conservative base, 75 per cent oppose gay marriage.

In explaining his refusal to sign an early version of the controversial law this week, Asa Hutchinson, the Arkansas governor, said the US was "split on how to balance the diversity of our culture with [our] traditions and firmly held religious convictions". He said there was also "clearly a generational gap", illustrated by the fact that his son urged him to veto the bill. According to Pew, 61 per cent of Republicans under 30 now support same-sex marriage.

Republican leaders recognise that these shifts mean the party must soften its image on social issues such as same-sex relationships to win the White House, but efforts in that direction would face resistance from the base.

Tim Overton, the pastor at Halteman Village Baptist Church in Indiana, is one of those conservatives. He criticised the Indiana Republicans for "being scared" into amending the law, and stressed that bible-believing groups needed protections precisely because attitudes towards gays were changing.

He said a Christian baker should be able to refuse to make a wedding cake for a gay couple that wanted a congratulatory message on top, but says "services involving free speech are not protected under this legal language".

While a majority of people support gay relationships, one Pew poll showed that 47 per cent of respondents believed a wedding-related business should be allowed to refuse services to a same-sex couple on religious grounds. But when Indiana reversed course this week, one of the main changes was to state explicitly that companies could not discriminate in such as way.

Mark Souder, a former Republican congressman from Indiana, said the Republican party was "caught" on same-sex issues. He said social conservatives - Christians - remained the biggest subgroup in the party, including in swing states such as Colorado, Florida, Ohio and Iowa, but that same-sex issues posed a problem.

"In the swing states, key voter groups have moved more moderate on some issues like homosexuality," said Mr Souder.

One group of Republicans called Young Conservatives for the Freedom to Marry is urging the party to alter its platform on same-sex marriage to respond to the evolving social landscape.

"Right now there is only room for this very small but loud group (which oppose same-sex marriage)," says Jerri Ann Henry, campaign manager for the group. "But there is a growing proportion of the Republican party that believes that, if a man and woman can marry, then a man and a man or a woman and a woman should be able to get married."

Ms Henry says the Republican party needs to catch up with the country. With courts sanctioning same-sex weddings - and the Supreme Court expected to rule on the issue this year - it is probable that by 2018 or 2020 "everyone in the US will have the freedom to marry and people's next door neighbours will be married same-sex couples".

Steve Clemons, editor-at-large for The Atlantic magazine, agrees that attitudes are shifting rapidly. He says the repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" - the policy that allowed gays to circumvent a ban on serving in the military - played an important role. Illustrating the speed of change is the fact that President Barack Obama only voiced support for gay marriage in 2012.

Ms Henry and Mr Clemons argue that the growing support means same-sex issues will be anachronistic after the 2016 election. "This is the last hurrah for those that hold some sort of bias or bigotry towards gays," says Mr Clemons.

Twitter: @DimiSevastopulo

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