How the Public Feels About Gays, Gay Marriage and Efforts to Ban It

[rodbarnett]

Some recent polls have examined how the public feels about homosexuality, gay marriage, civil unions and efforts to ban gay marriage. Among their findings:
-Americans are closely divided on whether homosexual relations between adults should or should not be legal.

-A majority of Americans, sometimes by as much as a 2-1 margin, say they oppose legalizing gay marriage.

-Americans are divided on whether homosexual couples should be allowed to form legally recognized civil unions, with slightly more people opposing it.

-People are less enthusiastic about a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage. When given the option of a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage or letting states make their own laws, almost six in 10 favor letting states deal with the issue, while almost four in 10 favor a constitutional amendment.

http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGA2KSP82RD.html

[HornBuckler]

1. Anybody Have Any Age Group Based Stats?

I Am Very Curious As To How Those Numbers Would Skew By Age Group. Any Polls About This Done Say The 18-34 Range? My Money Is The Younger You Go The Less Opposition You'll Hear.

[WitchWay]

2. Don't let polls bait us into hypocrisy on civil rights

Yeah, our candidate should base their platform based on the polling of folks about marriage. In disregard to the consequences?

I think the dem candidate should fully support Gay marriage. If people are too ignorant to support equal rights for all its citizens, then the dem candidate and everyone who supports Gay marriage and equal rights should educate everyone.

It's not a smart idea to waffle on civil rights.

[peabody71]

32. Just say, "Seperation of Church and State"!!

[Streetdoc270]

3. Pollsters asking the wrong questions

They should ask 'Do you oppose equal treatment under the law?'

Or 'If your child was in a homosexual relationship would you want them to enjoy the same rights and protections that you enjoy?'

bet the poll numbers would be very different.....

[salinen]

4. Slave owners polled showed

that 100% were against freeing the slaves. Homophobes are the modern version.

[saigon68]

6. Certain White Groups feel other groups more closely related to

lower anthropods by a wide margin </Sarcasm>

There would still be "slave auctions" if certain groups held power.

[DrWeird]

7. A 1958 Gallup poll shows that 96% of whites

were opposed to interracial marriage.

[cally]

9. Is that true?

or were you making a joke?

[saigon68]

11. NO JOKE see Loving v. Virginia

Link

http://www-personal.umich.edu/~kdown/loving.html

and this beauty

Alabama considers lifting interracial marriage ban

http://www.cnn.com/US/9903/12/interracial.marriage/

[Laughing Mirror]

20. Did Alabama's interracial law get repealed?

That it was on the books as late as 1999 is astounding. But the last paragraph of the article you linked provides an ominous clue perhaps as to why:

A more hotly contested issue in the state may ultimately be same-sex marriage. Some members of the House panel reportedly balked at approving the interracial marriage bill until they were assured it would not open the door for homosexual marriages in the state.

[girl gone mad]

12. And that's the message..

we need to get out.

Republicans who support this are bigots.

[saigon68]

14. A brief history of interracial marriage

Americans' attitudes toward black-white relationships have started to thaw over the years. But it's been a long, slow road. As recently as 1991, the National Opinion Research Center found that 66 percent of white Americans polled opposed a close relative marrying a black man.

http://search.csmonitor.com/durable/2001/07/25/p15s1.htm

[kayell]

19. And yet Eisenhower never felt the need to propose a

Constitutional Amendment to protect the "sanctity of marriage" against the horror of mixed race marraige. Nor did Kennedy or Johnson, even as it looked liked "activist judges" might seek to redefine marriage as allowing the joining of different colored people. *gasp*

[GoddessOfGuinness]

30. Well said. n/t

[aquart]

5. 60 percent AGAINST a constitutional amendment.

Pay attention, folks.

Idiocy ain't getting out of committee.

[Laughing Mirror]

8. 60 percent against constitutional ban

Can be seen in light of a poll from a week or so ago, where it was 49 percent who opposed ban on same sex marriage.

All people need is a push in the right direction.

[northernsoul]

24. hopefully this will backfire on the Pukes

they just might have grabbed enough rope to hang themselves with if they really want to try to slam a consitutional amendment through (which they're probably going to have to do in the next few months if they want to get it done before elections)

[Beetwasher]

13. Exactly!

Most people will NOT support tinkering w/ the constitution to deny only CERTAIN people their right to pursue happiness.

[TrogL]

10. Human rights is not a matter of majority rules

[Beetwasher]

15. Yup

It's that simple. But the majority is actually on our side. 60% would not support an ammendment, regardles of how they personally feel about it, they are not THAT sure about it...That's a good thing.

[bagnana]

16. Jon Stewart had a great point last night

If republicans are so damn concerned about preserving the sanctity of marriage, why don't they amend the constitution to disallow adultery? Isn't adultery a pretty damn big threat to marriage? Sanctimonious hypocritical a-holes.

[theshadow]

22. An even bigger threat are...

Hollywood marriages. Dennis Rodman and Carmen Electra... Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee...Michael Jackson and Lisa Presley. This is "sanctity of marriage". Let's make it a clean sweep and ban them too.

[theshadow]

21. According to Prof. Pat Boone....

... the Constitution and our rights are all a matter of "majority rules".

In his discourse on religious freedoms and those want a separation between church & state, he wrote "While the Constitution guarantees their right to hold and express whatever views they wish, the Constitution also guarantees majority rule. We have rights, too, even if a minority of Americans objects."
See http://www.polkonline.com/stories/010404/opi_majority.shtml.

What's sad is that many Americans probably agree with him.

[yellowcanine]

25. Pat Boone's constitutional knowledge is as good as his theology

If Pat had paid attention in civics class he would know that the Constitution was designed to protect the minority from the tyrrany of the majority. That is why it takes a super majority at several levels to change it. First a super majority is needed in the Congress and than a super majority of states must ratify. Go back to singing, Pat, or whatever it is you do now.

[Sparkle]

17. According to the republicans

they rather gays Make War and Not Love.

[BR_Parkway]

18. No, we are still banned from military service too! n/t

[stopbush]

23. If Americans are so concerned about majority rule,

why is bush sitting in Al Gore's WH?

Effing idiots.

[Johnyawl]

26. When Truman intergrated the armed forces in 1947...

...his approval dropped to about 37%.

But you know, sometimes you have to do what's right, and damn the consequences. It's called leadership.

[Weathergirl]

27. I've tried

but I cannot understand the opposition to gay marriage. Unless it's based on some deeply held religious dogma, in which case the dogma does NOT belong in the Constitution - any move by the U.S. government to officially recognize one religion's tenets over all others is un-Constitutional. I don't know why this is such a difficult concept for some people to grasp.

[Streetdoc270]

29. Its in a word....

To many people the word 'Marriage' denotes a church Sacrement, thus the usage of the phrase "sacred institution". However what the issue is about is the rights and privlages granted to couples when they enter into a legal union that is recognized. We call this union marriage weather it is performed as a Mass or in a vegas hotel room and these couples are now legally one for purposes of inhertiance, survivors rights, medical decisions, and of course tax purposes. When you take the word marrage away and replace it with civil union you are in reality talking about the same exact thing, so it now makes no sense that politicians can be in favor of unions but aginst marrage, because they are the same exact thing!

[pinto]

28. I'm really, really tired of being an issue for public consumption....

ed for clarity

[wabeewoman]

31. Its a distractor folks

Not that I don't think this is an important issue ( I personally don't understand why some folks fell that they must tell others how to live and try to restrict their rights). I really think what we should be saying to this issue is that the repugs are trying to change the subject from Iraq, unemployment, the deficit, the environment etc.... Don't let them define the debate. bush is just trying more divisive politics.

[Malva Zebrina]

33. You wanna know how I feel about this?

I don't care. There are far more important things to be considered right now, such as the lies Bush told in order to invade Iraq.

I am not concerned at all about this issue because it is not a priority.

I am all for the legal rights of all human beings.

But the foremost thing on my mind is this atrocious lying to invade Iraq and kill and murder it's people in the tens of thousands with our bombs.

[damnyankee2601]

34. Much ado about nothing.

The number of people who would change their vote based on this issue alone is tiddlywinks.

[adamblast]

35. I wish I had your confidence.

I'm ready to fight this tooth and nail, but I see it as having a nearly 50/50 chance of passing.

The democratic politicians have already shown themselves completely UNWILLING to stand up for gay Americans whenever it might cost them a few votes.

The DoMA passed overwhelmingly easily. So did all the statewide versions--and they passed in enough states to confirm an ammendment...

I think this all boils down to Congress. If it gets past the Senate and House, I think it will get past the needed number of states.

I actually expect to be an official 2nd class citizen in my own country soon.