Original Article Discourse of generations: The influence of cohort, period and ideology in Americans’ talk about same-sex marriage Peter Hart-Brinson Department of Sociology, University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, 105 Garfield Ave., P.O. Box 4004, Eau Claire, WI 54702, USA. E-mail: hartbrin@uwec.edu Abstract How does cohort affect discourse about same-sex marriage? Existing research shows that both cohort replacement and intra-cohort attitude change are causing public opinion to liberalize, but it has not explained how and why members of different cohorts develop distinct attitudes or how these phenomena vary within cohorts. This article shows how the cultural analysis of social generational change complements demographic studies of cohort replacement to create a more compre- hensive solution to Mannheim’s ‘problem of generations’. Qualitative analysis of inter- views with two cohorts of Midwestern Americans shows, first, how discourses emerge based on the interaction of cohort and ideology in an informant’s cultural repertoire. Further analysis shows that cohort shapes attitudes about homosexuality because of the mainstream cultural construction of it that informants encountered when they came of age. Finally, in an analysis of exceptional cases, I show that counter-cultural immersion can insulate cohort subgroups from cultural change and that period effects are challenging older liberals to change their pre-existing worldviews. I argue that the analysis of social generational processes, which distinguish the ‘generation as an actu- ality’ from the cohort, is an essential complement to demographic analysis in genera- tional theory. American Journal of Cultural Sociology (2014) 2, 221–252. doi:10.1057/ajcs.2014.3; published online 22 April 2014 Keywords: generation; cohort; homosexuality; same-sex marriage; discourse; public opinion Introduction According to public opinion polls (Gallup, 2013; Pew Research Center, 2013), in the 16 years between 1996 and 2012, opposition to same-sex © 2014 Macmillan Publishers Ltd. 2049-7113 American Journal of Cultural Sociology Vol. 2, 2, 221–252 www.palgrave-journals.com/ajcs/