Humanity has always had a problem with reality. We have a problem with seeing things the way we want to see them, rather than how they actually are. Case in point -- Iraq, where right-wingers and "liberal" humanitarian interventionists believed that the Iraqi people would greet us with flowers and open arms because that's what they wanted to believe. Or Judith Miller not developing skeptical sources who could have countered and debunked assertions that Iraq was developing massive WMD's.
On December 12th, Science Magazine published a piece claiming that personal contact from gay messengers was essential in changing minds on gay rights in California, as opposed to straight messengers. That should have triggered something called the "smell test." For those of us familiar with the ugliest aspects of racism and right-wing politics, we know that encountering Blacks or other minorities has frequently triggered a hostile reaction in people -- for instance, the "white flight" starting in the 1960's. So, while it is possible that personal contact from gay messengers can change minds, it could also cause people to dig their heels in. After all, a lot of right-wingers are a stubborn bunch -- very difficult to persuade to your point of view.
On May 28th, Science retracted the study. There were numerous misrepresentations in the study and funding for the study was also misrepresented.
The problem with trying to put something over on people in science is that people will try and replicate your work. When people can't replicate your work, that is when they start asking questions.
Society, of course, has changed in its attitudes towards gay rights. Personal contact can be one factor facilitating that change. But another factor is moral outrage towards hate crimes.
Von Bakanic, a sociology professor at the College of Charleston who has taught courses on marriage, said the current trend in the way society thinks about gay marriage can be traced to the late 1990s, when members of Generation X were outraged by the murder of Matthew Shepard, a gay student at the University of Wyoming. Shepard was beaten and tortured in October 1998. He died six days later from head injuries.
This and other hate crimes fueled such moral outrage among our society that it has fueled the demands for change, much as televised displays of racist hatred helped fuel the passage of the Civil Rights Act in 1964. And a third possible facilitator for change could be straight allies -- sometimes, a straight person telling a homophobic person to shut the hell up because their behavior is offensive to them personally can work. So, the short answer for why attitudes are changing is -- we don't know for sure. It depends on each individual personal situation. Sociologists have been grappling with this question well before Mr. LaCour's study came along. A study interviewing people who changed their minds on LGBT issues would be helpful.
LaCour's study amounted to an exercise in oversimplification, as it completely ignored some of the other factors that have driven change in attitudes towards the LGBT community in this country. As such, it should have triggered the smell test. In the same respect, the claims of the Bush Administration regarding Iraq should have also failed the smell test. The US had contained Saddam Hussein in the years following the First Gulf War, starving hundreds of thousands of people in the process and forcing Iraq to submit to rigorous inspections. Therefore, claims that Saddam had somehow reconstituted his weapons of mass destruction should not have passed the smell test for people. When we do not exercise sufficient skepticism and apply the smell test, it can cost millions of lives.