A Great Lakes shift on gay rights? Detroit Free Press
Poll numbers released last week indicate that Michigan voters, who only five years ago overwhelming supported a constitutional amendment that limits marriage to one man and one woman, may be softening on the question of gay marriage and other rights for same-sex couples.
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090607/NEWS06/906070461&s=d&page=2#pluckcomments”>This story by Free Press reporter Dawson Bell details the results of a May 27-29 survey by Chicago-based http://www.glengariffgroup.com/“>Glengariff Group, which showed support for gay marriage in Michigan at 46%, with opposition at 48%.
The 2004 constitutional amendment was approved 61% to 24%.
The poll also found majority support for hospital visitation rights, benefits for public employees and adoption rights for same-sex couples.
If accurate (and every poll is susceptible to some error) this would mark a pretty dramatic swing in public opinion. And if you think about it, a lot has happened in the past two years to shape public opinion more favorably toward equal rights for same-sex couples.
Michigan passed its constitutional amendment at what seemed like the tail end of the national haste to “protect” marriage through referenda. Since then, several other states have actually embraced gay marriage – New Hampshire and Iowa, hardly bastions of liberalism, being the latest. New Hampshire, with its traditional libertarian leanings, is a particularly notable example, as it suggests that support for gay marriage may be picking up steam on the backs of factions other than traditional left-wing constituencies.
See A Great Lakes shift on gay rights? Detroit Free Press
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Do Obama and Miss California Have the Same Position on Gay Marriage? Sort of.
By Robert Schlesinger, Thomas Jefferson Street blog
I was at a, err, opposite-sex wedding
over the weekend when one of the guests asked me, presumably as the member of the MSM on hand, why Carrie Prejean, Miss California, gets lambasted for being anti-gay marriage, while Barack Obama
The answer lies in tone and nuance.
It is true that Obama’s position is that marriage is “between a man and a woman” and that he is “not in favor of gay marriage.” That said, he articulately advocates for the rights of gay couples on things like hospital visitation. See here, for example, starting at about 1:06: “When I sit down and read scripture and I think how would Jesus feel about somebody not being able to visit someone they love when they’re sick, I conclude that that is something that’s important.”
And it is possible that some portion of people suspect that Obama would favor gay marriage were it a politically viable position: He’s secretly with us, not like that nasty Miss California. And even if that’s not the case, he’s good on enough other stuff that he can get a pass on this.
Then there’s Miss California, whose now-famous answer to the question seems like instant, inadvertent beauty pageant satire. See Do Obama and Miss California Have the Same Position on Gay …
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Phoenix domestic-partner registry in the works
Just a month after Arizona voters passed a constitutional ban on gay marriage, the state’s largest city is poised to create a program that would grant hospital-visitation rights to unmarried gay or straight couples who live together.
The Phoenix City Council on Wednesday will consider making the city just the second in Arizona to offer its residents a domestic-partner registry.
Tucson launched a similar program in 2003.
See Phoenix domestic-partner registry in the works
Arizona Republic, AZ
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Original source : http://gay_blog.blogspot.com/2008/12/phoenix-domes…
A Gay Marriage Surge: Public support grows, according to the new NEWSWEEK Poll.
When voters in California, Florida and Arizona approved measures banning same-sex marriage last month, opponents lamented that the country appeared to be turning increasingly intolerant toward gay and lesbian rights. But the latest NEWSWEEK Poll finds growing public support for gay marriage and civil unions—and strong backing for the granting of certain rights associated with marriage, to same-sex couples. (Click here to see the full poll.)
Americans continue to find civil unions for gays and lesbians more palatable than full-fledged marriage. Fifty-five percent of respondents favored legally sanctioned unions or partnerships, while only 39 percent supported marriage rights. Both figures are notably higher than in 2004, when 40 percent backed the former and 33 percent approved of the latter. When it comes to according legal rights in specific areas to gays, the public is even more supportive. Seventy-four percent back inheritance rights for gay domestic partners (compared to 60 percent in 2004), 73 percent approve of extending health insurance and other employee benefits to them (compared to 60 percent in 2004), 67 percent favor granting them Social Security benefits (compared to 55 percent in 2004) and 86 percent support hospital visitation rights (a question that wasn’t asked four years ago). In other areas, too, respondents appeared increasingly tolerant. Fifty-three percent favor gay adoption rights (8 points more than in 2004), and 66 percent believe gays should be able to serve openly in the military (6 points more than in 2004).
Despite the recently approved state measures, public opinion nationally has shifted against a federal ban on same-sex marriage. In 2004, people were evenly divided on the question, with 47 percent favoring a constitutional amendment prohibiting gay marriage and 45 percent opposing one. In the latest poll, however, 52 percent oppose a ban and only 43 percent favor one. When respondents were asked about state measures, the numbers were closer: 45 percent said they’d vote in favor of an amendment outlawing gay marriage in their states, while 49 percent said they’d oppose such a measure.
See A Gay Marriage Surge
Newsweek
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Original source : http://gay_blog.blogspot.com/2008/12/gay-marriage-…
