Poll: 75% of New Yorkers support either full marriage or civil unions (i.e. oppose typical 'protect marriage' mindset)

« Go back a post || Return to G-A-Y homepage || Haul tail to next post »

05/12/2011

by Jeremy Hooper

This morning, you might find "protect marriage"-minded New Yorkers saying this about a new Marist poll:

Screen Shot 2011-05-12 At 8.33.04 Am
[SOURCE]

But what these folks surely won't tell you? That while this poll does go against most every other poll in NY state, showing a slight majority (53%, with a +/- 4.5% MOE) who'd personally prefer that marriage only be between man/woman (led heavily by conservatives, Republicans, and TEA party supporters, all of whom voiced opposition higher than 75%), this same survey also shows that a healthy 50% of respondents think that gay and lesbian couples should have the right to marry, regardless of the respondent's own personal view. And not only that: An additional 25% of respondents say they support an alternate form of recognition via a civil unions system. So really, the Marist poll only shows a miniscule 25% (and only 21% of registered voters) supporting the "no rights of any sort" view espoused by groups like the New Yorker's Family Research Foundation and the National Organization For Marriage, or by politicians like Sen. Ruben Diaz.

Here's the pertinent graph and link to the full poll:

[Marist]

We know that civil union supporters, when they get all of the facts about why those are lacking in terms of equality, tend to come around towards full fairness. It's exceedingly rare for a civil unions supporter to turn around and go to the "no" side. So if you are to accept this poll as anything close to representative, then this the bright spot of 25% civil unions support should not be underestimated. Because that's our well to tap, not theirs.

Personally we'd be pretty darn bummed if any NY state poll showed only a quarter of the local population (and less than a quarter of registered voters) supporting our pet cause. Though we almost never agree with any of NYFRF's labels, so why should "great news" be any different?

space