Southern Illinois University sociologist Darren Sherkat posts on his blog a brief rundown of analysis he performed on raw data from 2010 that GSS recently released. Sherkat reports that for the first time in American history, same-sex marriage has more support than opposition, a massive shift from the first time GSS asked the question just 22 years ago, when more than three-quarters of Americans opposed same-sex marriage and only 12.4 percent supported it.

Image courtesy Darren Sherkat

The findings come on the heels of January’s publication in the most recent issue of sociology journal Social Science Research of a paper entitled “Religion, politics, and support for same-sex marriage in the United States” that Sherkat co-authored. Using 2008 data, Sherkat and his colleagues broke down support for same-sex marriage along religious and political lines. The results, though hardly surprising, paint an interesting picture of the origins of people’s opinions on same-sex marriage. Sherkat has posted some of the findings on his blog, including a graph showing the relationship between political affiliation, degree of fundamentalism and support for same-sex marriage among those who identify as Christians.

Almost inevitably, “philosophical” Christians who believe that the stories in the Bible are fables designed for moral instruction were much more likely to support same-sex marriage than both those who believe the Bible is the inspired word of God and literalists who believe the Bible depicts the actual history of the world. Biblical literalists offered the most opposition to same-sex marriage, and Democrats of all types were significantly more likely than their Republican counterparts to support same-sex marriage.

Image courtesy Darren Sherkat

Palin has described herself as an “every-day” American and a “Joe Six-Pack,” struggling with the same issues as other working-class families.

An idea I didn’t get to explore much in the story is: what does it mean to be working-class in Alaska?

Many people I spoke with here told me that Alaskans would have a similar view on “working-class” as other places in the country. A working-class person probably has a blue-collar job or works in the service industry at an hourly rate. Working-class families live above the poverty level, but often have to make tough budget decisions to get by.

Nelta Edwards, a sociology professor at the University of Alaska, Anchorage, who studies class in the state, said that people here understand class in the same way the rest of America does, by and large. She said the difference is that it is made much less of an issue — particular in political campaigns.

“We just don’t talk about class,” Edwards said.

Some here disagree with Edwards’s assertions. They say it’s not just that Alaskans don’t talk about class, but that the actual idea of class is different than other places.

One Alaskan I spoke with yesterday, Mead Treadwell, who is both an entrepreneur and government employee, sees class differently. Treadwell is chairman of the state’s Arctic Research Commission and CEO of a firm called Venture Ad Astra, that invests in and develops new geospatial and imaging technologies.

Treadwell came to Alaska 30 years ago, to cover state politics for the local paper. He reported on the complex issues involved in the construction of the oil pipeline that now connects Alaska’s oil to the wider market. He went to business school, and then spent much of his career working on natural-resource issues and Arctic research.

His story shares a Western theme with many others who came here as modern prospectors.

This common story looks at class much differently here compared to the East Coast, Treadwell said. He spoke about how, back East, you’re often asked where you went to college. In Alaska, that’s not part of the discussion. For example, before Palin was tapped to be the GOP vice presidential nominee, Treadwell had no idea she was a graduate of University of Idaho.

“Where [Palin] comes from is people living their lives simply,” Treadwell said, noting that most Alaskans enjoy the same pasttimes of fishing and snow sports. “It’s a place where pedigree doesn’t matter — where you’re judged by what you do to help build the country, not by what your last name is, or where you went to school.”

Treadwell wouldn’t say that everyone is the same financially, though he noted the difference in lifestyle between the very rich and very poor isn’t so different here.

“Alaska is a hard place to put on airs,” Treadwell said, “even if you wanted.”