Salon brings some interesting news from the world of social science research: the more porn straight men, especially less educated straight men, watch, the more they’re likely to back same-sex marriage:

Researchers believe that regular exposure to the wild, wacky world of porn may cause straight men to be more accepting of a range of sexual preferences and situations. If these men think “individuals should be able to decide for themselves whether to have same-sex sex, they will also think that individuals should be able to decide for themselves whether to get married to a partner of the same-sex,” Wright told the Examiner. Adding, “Pornography adopts an individualistic, non-judgmental stance on all kinds of non-traditional sexual behaviours and same-sex marriage attitudes are strongly linked to attitudes about same-sex sex.”

It’s interesting to see this highlighted in Salon, which is a culturally left web magazine that celebrates sexual freedom. Had this same news appeared in a culturally conservative magazine, many people wouldn’t have viewed it in the same way. It’s like when racy images of Pride parades are shown in pro-gay contexts, it’s a celebration of diversity, but when conservatives highlight the very same images, they stand accused of trying to smear the entire gay community with the outré behavior of a few.

Anyway, porn. Gosh, who knew it was good for society? Ahem.