Poll: 47% of Americans think Michael Sam kiss was inappropriate for TV
47 percent of Americans think that it was ‘inappropriate’ for Michael Sam’s kiss with his boyfriend to be broadcast on TV.
Sam kissed his boyfriend Vito Cammisano live on ESPN last weekend, celebrating his draft to the St Louis Rams, making history as the first openly gay NFL player.
However, according to a poll conducted by YouGov and HuffPo, 47 percent of Americans thought it was inappropriate to broadcast his kiss on TV, with just 36 percent saying it was appropriate, and seventeen percent unsure.
A majority of Democrats approved of the kiss (53 percent to 32 percent), but a huge majority of Republicans thought it was inappropriate (69 percent to 16 percent).
There was also a large generational gap, with 55 percent of under 30s seeing no issue with the kiss, while 69 percent of over-65s deeming it inappropriate.
According to the poll, 60 percent said they would approve of their sports teams signing a gay player, and 20 percent said they would disapprove.
Among NFL fans, 65 percent said they would approve of a gay player, and 21 percent said they would disapprove.
Despite his historic drafting, Sam’s kiss has been a controversial issue, with several conservative pundits claiming it should not have been allowed on TV.
Dallas TV pundit Amy Kushnir stormed out of a TV discussion about the kiss earlier this week, saying: “When parents do not have a choice whether they want their children to see this — it’s wrong.”
“It’s being pushed in faces. I don’t want to see that. I don’t want to see cake in your face, kissing each other.”
Watch the kiss below:
