Poll: CA split on same sex marriage/Ballot measure for 2010

Just as another New England state greenlit same sex marriage Wednesday, a new California poll released Wednesday found that Californians are roughly split on same sex marriage. (“When asked, ‘Do you strongly favor, somewhat favor, somewhat oppose, or strongly oppose allowing same — sex couples to be legally married,” 47 percent say favor and 48 percent say oppose. The poll was taken before last week’s CA Supreme Court decision affirming Proposition 8.

So dead even, in margin of error terms, said co-pollster David Binder.

“I’m not suprised,” said Charles Sheehan, co-director of the Alice B. Toklas LGBT Democratic Club. “It’s better than we were last fall.”

The poll was comissioned by a group of same sex marriage supporter groups as a way to help them figure out their next steps — like when to ask voters to vote again on the issue. Here’s what Binder and co-pollster Amy Simon found:

The 2012 Option:

“Higher turnout because of presidential election. But the pollsters “the additional voters that will come to the polls in a Presidential election are divided in their view of marriage for same-sex couples. Voters that will only turn out in a 2012 scenario are divided between younger voters who strongly support same-sex marriage and older Anglo, Latino and African American religious voters who are opposed to marriage for same‐sex couples.”

“While our modeling does indicate that 2012 will provide an extra 1-2 points of support for a marriage equality ballot measure, this difference may be impacted by many other factors in the larger political landscape at that time,” say the pollsters.

The 2010 Option: “It is likely that the Democratic nominee for Governor in 2010 will be an advocate of marriage equality, which would provide a high level spokesperson for the issue. In 2012, there is more uncertainty about the stance that President Obama may have on a marriage equality ballot measure during his expected re-election campaign.”

Nonetheless, reps from some of the groups anticipated to lead the next same sex marriage ballot initiative sound like they’re leaning toward 2010. Polls conducted by both Equality California and Courage Campaign have overwhelmingly said their supporters want to go to the ballot in 2010. Over the next month — in an effort called the “Get Engaged Tour” — organizations supporting same sex marriage will ask their members their preference.

Posted By: Joe Garofoli (Email) | June 03 2009 at 04:54 PM

See Poll: CA split on same sex marriage/Ballot measure for 2010

San Francisco Chronicle

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NC voters divided on gay marriage ban

(Raleigh, North Carolina) Half of North Carolinians oppose a proposed constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage according to a poll released Monday.

The Elon University poll found that 43 percent would support the amendment, but 50 percent would reject it. With a margin of error of plus or minus 4.0 percentage …

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Exclusive Daily Beast Valentines Poll: The Sex Freeze and the Baby Bust

In a time where consumer confidence, consumer spending and the GDP are all on the decline,  a new poll on sex and romance from The Daily Beast, an operating unit of IAC (NASDAQ:IACI),  found that interest in sex in these difficult times is also on the decline. Furthermore, Americans are less likely to have children and are postponing other major life events such as getting married, moving in with a partner and getting divorced. The complete survey, including all data, is available at thedailybeast.com.

Although nearly half of Americans believe that sex helps take their mind off of problems, only 13% of Americans overall say they will have sex more often this year compared to last.  Income, however, impacts the number of times people are having sex each month as well as their overall romantic relationships.  43% of those earning $75,000 or higher are having sex six or more times a month, compared to only 21% of those earning less than $75,000. Additionally, 58% of those earning over $75,000 feel that the recent financial issues have had no impact on their relationship, compared to only 40% of those making less than $75,000.
 
FINDINGS FROM VALENTINE’S DAY POLL INCLUDE:
 –  42% of the Americans surveyed are now less likely to have children
 –  More than one in three are less likely to get divorced
 –  In both sex and dating, Americans are being more careful. 41% are more
     cautious about who they date and one in five are using more birth
     control to avoid having children
 
“It’s startling to learn here of the number of people who are postponing having children for financial reasons,” said Tina Brown, co-founder and Editor in Chief of The Daily Beast. “We could be about to see a potential Baby Bust.”
Despite a tough economy, over 60% of Americans, regardless of gender, household income or political party, feel that the bad economic times are going to last two years or less.  Americans remain romantic with 6 out of 10 believing that despite the current economy, romance still exists and the economic crisis focuses us on what’s important – strong relationships and partners.
 
Political affiliation did, however, impact poll results when it came to financial stability. One in four Americans are looking for someone who can provide financial stability rather than seeking true love, with almost 30% of Democrats surveyed sharing that viewpoint, compared to 21% of Republicans. Republicans and Democrats also vary on the institution of marriage with 76% of Republicans viewing marriage as the eventual purpose of a relationship, compared to only 68% of Democrats.
 
When asked about the First Couple and whether or not they have a true romance, party affiliations matter with 80% Democrats thinking Barack and Michelle Obama have a true romance, compared to only 48% of Republicans.
 
With Valentine’s just a few days away, romantic spending is down. The most popular gifts are dinner with two (21%), a card (19%) while an additional 12% are saying “what gifts?, I’m saving money this year.” The floral industry may be impacted with only 4% opting for expensive flowers.
 
The Daily Beast Valentine’s Day Poll was conducted by Penn, Schoen & Berland Associates (PSB.) The poll covered 1,000 internet interviews from January 30- February 2, 2009. Overall, the margin of error is +/- 3.1%. The sample included 900 interviews with the U.S. population ages 18 and over and an additional 100 interviews with gay men and women aged 18 and over.
 
About The Daily Beast
The Daily Beast is a website dedicated to news and commentary, culture and entertainment. Created by Tina Brown and IAC, The Daily Beast curates the web’s best content and offers fresh works from its own talent roster of contributors. The Daily Beast is an operating business of IAC (NASDAQ:IACI). For more information, visit www.thedailybeast.com.

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Original source : http://gay_blog.blogspot.com/2009/02/exclusive-dai…

Exclusive Daily Beast Valentines Poll: The Sex Freeze and the Baby Bust

In a time where consumer confidence, consumer spending and the GDP are all on the decline,  a new poll on sex and romance from The Daily Beast, an operating unit of IAC (NASDAQ:IACI),  found that interest in sex in these difficult times is also on the decline. Furthermore, Americans are less likely to have children and are postponing other major life events such as getting married, moving in with a partner and getting divorced. The complete survey, including all data, is available at thedailybeast.com.

Although nearly half of Americans believe that sex helps take their mind off of problems, only 13% of Americans overall say they will have sex more often this year compared to last.  Income, however, impacts the number of times people are having sex each month as well as their overall romantic relationships.  43% of those earning $75,000 or higher are having sex six or more times a month, compared to only 21% of those earning less than $75,000. Additionally, 58% of those earning over $75,000 feel that the recent financial issues have had no impact on their relationship, compared to only 40% of those making less than $75,000.
 
FINDINGS FROM VALENTINE’S DAY POLL INCLUDE:
 –  42% of the Americans surveyed are now less likely to have children
 –  More than one in three are less likely to get divorced
 –  In both sex and dating, Americans are being more careful. 41% are more
     cautious about who they date and one in five are using more birth
     control to avoid having children
 
“It’s startling to learn here of the number of people who are postponing having children for financial reasons,” said Tina Brown, co-founder and Editor in Chief of The Daily Beast. “We could be about to see a potential Baby Bust.”
Despite a tough economy, over 60% of Americans, regardless of gender, household income or political party, feel that the bad economic times are going to last two years or less.  Americans remain romantic with 6 out of 10 believing that despite the current economy, romance still exists and the economic crisis focuses us on what’s important – strong relationships and partners.
 
Political affiliation did, however, impact poll results when it came to financial stability. One in four Americans are looking for someone who can provide financial stability rather than seeking true love, with almost 30% of Democrats surveyed sharing that viewpoint, compared to 21% of Republicans. Republicans and Democrats also vary on the institution of marriage with 76% of Republicans viewing marriage as the eventual purpose of a relationship, compared to only 68% of Democrats.
 
When asked about the First Couple and whether or not they have a true romance, party affiliations matter with 80% Democrats thinking Barack and Michelle Obama have a true romance, compared to only 48% of Republicans.
 
With Valentine’s just a few days away, romantic spending is down. The most popular gifts are dinner with two (21%), a card (19%) while an additional 12% are saying “what gifts?, I’m saving money this year.” The floral industry may be impacted with only 4% opting for expensive flowers.
 
The Daily Beast Valentine’s Day Poll was conducted by Penn, Schoen & Berland Associates (PSB.) The poll covered 1,000 internet interviews from January 30- February 2, 2009. Overall, the margin of error is +/- 3.1%. The sample included 900 interviews with the U.S. population ages 18 and over and an additional 100 interviews with gay men and women aged 18 and over.
 
About The Daily Beast
The Daily Beast is a website dedicated to news and commentary, culture and entertainment. Created by Tina Brown and IAC, The Daily Beast curates the web’s best content and offers fresh works from its own talent roster of contributors. The Daily Beast is an operating business of IAC (NASDAQ:IACI). For more information, visit www.thedailybeast.com.

Published by  Published by xFruits

Original source : http://gay_blog.blogspot.com/2009/02/exclusive-dai…

Poll: Americans support gay rights

A Harris Interactive poll released Dec. 3 found that Americans support a range of policies and protections for gay people.

The Pulse of Equality survey, commissioned by the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, found that majorities of Americans favor either marriage or civil unions for gay couples, hate crime laws to protect gay and transgender people, letting gays in the military serve openly, and allowing gays and lesbians to adopt children.

The telephone survey questioned 2,000 adults between Nov. 13 and 17 and had a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points.

Among the specific findings:

* Seventy-five percent of U.S. adults favor either marriage or domestic partnerships/civil unions for gay and lesbian couples. Only 22 percent oppose any legal recognition of gay couples.

* U.S. adults are evenly divided on whether gay couples should have access to marriage – 47 percent say yes and 49 percent say no.

* Sixty-four percent think gays in the military should not have to stay closeted, as required by the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy.

* Sixty-three percent support expanding hate crime laws to cover gay and transgender people. At present, 31 states and the District of Columbia have such laws that cover sexual orientation and 12 of those laws also encompass gender identity.

* Fifty-one percent favor protecting gay and transgender people under existing laws that ban discrimination in employment, housing and public accommodations. Twenty states and the District of Columbia have such laws that cover sexual orientation and 13 of those laws also encompass gender identity.

* Sixty-nine percent oppose bans on gay adoption.

“We observed a positive relationship between knowing a gay or transgender person and one’s attitudes toward them and the policy issues that affect their lives,” said Laura Light, Harris Interactive’s vice president of public relations research.

“Based on other surveys we have conducted on attitudes toward LGBT people and issues, the results of this survey suggest that public sentiment in the U.S. is trending toward greater acceptance of gay- and transgender-related policy issues.”

The survey found that people under 65, and especially those 18-34, are more gay-friendly than people over 65. Women are generally more supportive than men. Latinos are more supportive than whites and blacks when it comes to gays in the military. Blacks are more supportive than whites and Latinos on hate-crime laws. And Catholics and “mainline” Christians (Protestant, Mormon or “other Christian”) are more supportive than “born-again” Protestants, Mormons or other Christians.

Nineteen percent of those questioned said their feelings toward gay people have become more favorable over the past five years. They attributed the change to such things as knowing someone who is gay, seeing gay people on TV and in movies, passage of gay-friendly laws, news coverage of gay issues, and learning of the gay-friendly positions of friends, family members and religious leaders.

“Knowing someone who is gay or lesbian” was the most significant factor, cited by 79 percent of those whose feelings had evolved.

 See Poll: Americans support gay rights
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