AH Challenge: Make Gay Marriage Legal Nationally in the USA

Thanos6

Banned
Hey, here's an idea.

This is, as far as I know, completely totally ASB, but let's run with it:

What if, during his second term, Ronald Reagan himself had publicly come out of the closet?
 
Hey, here's an idea.

This is, as far as I know, completely totally ASB, but let's run with it:

What if, during his second term, Ronald Reagan himself had publicly come out of the closet?

Probably not a ton of impact. He would be a lame duck and this is America we're talking about, not Saudi Arabia. For more impact, this would need to happen in his first term, soon after election.
 

Thanos6

Banned
Good point.

OK, let's say this happened after the attempted assassination on his life in 1981. He decides he "doesn't want to live a lie anymore" and that the American people deserve the truth.
 
Good point.

OK, let's say this happened after the attempted assassination on his life in 1981. He decides he "doesn't want to live a lie anymore" and that the American people deserve the truth.
I think that's more likely to bring about the wanted result. America is more socially conservative at that time, so it will have more impact. It's going to create utter shock but the man just about died. Any hateful reaction to him is going to be severely muted.

From there on out, Americans will do what they do best, which is judge a leader by the fruits of the economy. If it does well, he wins as OTL. If not, Mondale beats him.

Assuming he is reelected, and pushes the issue in his second term, I can see butterflies resulting in SSM by the mid-late 90s, perhaps.
 
This is going to happen within 20 years anyways. As the baby boomers die off and Gen-X becomes the senior generation, SSM is all but guaranteed.

As for making it happen sooner, butterfly AIDS out of existence and avoid the backlash against the concept in the 90s.
 
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