Have conservatives lost millennials in the marriage debate?

A pro-traditional marriage panel speaking on issues of life, marriage and religious liberty was challenged with that question yesterday at Heritage Action’s 2015 Conservative Policy Summit in Washington, D.C.

Ryan Anderson, who researches and writes about marriage and religious liberty at The Heritage Foundation, argued that the answer may not be known for a number of years, as same-sex marriage becomes more prevalent in the United States. According to Pew Research, 67 percent of those ages 18 to 33 favor same-sex marriage.

“My generation is more pro-life than my parents’ generation, and there’s no reason why the same thing can’t happen on the question about marriage,” Anderson said.

Anderson, who is a millennial, says that if the pro-life movement is any signal, the conversation about same-sex marriage is far from over.

“My generation never has had to think through very critically what marriage is,” he said, adding:

We’ve largely lived in a culture that has made a mess of marriage … it’s not surprising that we’re confused about what marriage is, but that’s no reason to give up on it. Serious work can be done making the case for what marriage is, why it matters and why we ought not redefine it.

Watch the video to hear his full response.

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