Reading the headlines, the news isn’t good for gay Utahns.
Former Equality Utah Director Mike Thompson has moved to San Francisco, taking his organizing skills from Holladay to the Haight. He says it’s personal, not professional.
Then, Pride Week opened with what looks like a hate crime.
Christopher Vonnegut Allen was arrested after allegedly beating his gay neighbors — a man and a woman — bloody in Ogden. One victim needed surgery. You may not have heard of it. Prosecutors charged Allen with only one count of burglary.
And this week, two nice Mormon ladies from Santa Cruz decided to give their unwilling church one more chance to reconcile with its gay members and the LGBT community outside the flock.
While the rest of the country moves forward — New Hampshire, New York, Iowa, for goodness sake — this place seems perpetually stuck.
It probably helps that Thompson missed the headlines. Still, he’s optimistic.
“You can’t have a defeatist attitude,” he says. “You’ve got to press against it in order to even hope for a change.”
He points to Salt Lake City’s nondiscrimination ordinance and domestic partners registry, an anti-bullying law, polls that show Utahns supported the Common Ground Initiative (even if lawmakers didn’t).
“Maybe they’re not significant in some people’s minds, but there are measurables there,” he says. “People are having conversations. Change is going to come sooner or later.”
See
Salt Lake Tribune
A gay marriage poll released by the L.A. Times reveals that a yawning racial chasm exists over the issue. Pollsters found that a substantial majority in a sampling of 1,500 registered voters in Los Angeles — 56 percent — favored legalizing same-sex marriage, while only 37 percent opposed it. However, after parsing the demographics, vivid ethnic demarcations emerge. (See L.A. Weekly reporter Patrick Range McDonald’s extensive coverage of the growing outreach by pro-gay-marriage advocates into both the ethnic and agrarian communities of California.)
Caucasian voters favor legalization by a huge 68 percent margin, with 27 percent opposing it. The breakdown among African Americans is substantially, if not quite completely, reversed: 54 percent oppose gay marriage, with 37 percent supporting it. (Conflicting points of views in the local African American community have been glimpsed on the L.A. Sentinel‘s opinion page, with lesbian commentator Jasmyne A. Cannick for gay marriage and conservative columnist Firpo Carr condemning it.)
Meanwhile, the Times reports that Latinos are evenly split, with 45 percent supporting and 46 opposing same-sex weddings. It is the swing Latino electorate that advocates on both sides will seek to win over in an anticipated 2010 ballot rematch of Proposition 8. See
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At 11:30am PST today, an umbrella group of gay organizations like the Courage Campaign, National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, Marriage Equality U.S.A., and Equality California will deliver the results from its polling of where California’s voters stand on same-sex marriage. Yes, this is the same data Fresno organizers wanted to keep secret. To those involved, the data is of utmost importance, because it could determine whether to push for a ballot measure overturning Prop 8 in 2010, or whether the analysis shows we should wait until 2012, or even head in another course of action. The results of the poll will be delivered over a conference call (only media are invited to join). But Queerty received a preview of what to expect.
“Opinion on marriage for same-sex couples in California is almost evenly divided, with opponents holding a 1% to 2% edge,” says the data from the Poll4Equality Coalition, which conducted the survey. Depending on how you look at it, that’s either good or bad news. Bad, because it shows we still have more convincing to do. And good, because it shows there’s only a small margin to overcome.
But knowing the state is nearly evenly divided on gay marriage, the important information the poll delivers is: If we’re going to put the issue on the ballot, how do we phrase the wording?
When asked, “Do you strongly favor, somewhat favor, somewhat oppose, or strongly oppose allowing same-sex couples to be legally married?,” the survey found 47 percent saying “favor” and 48 percent saying “oppose.” The data shows “support increases if the language specifically includes a provision that says no clergy will be required to perform a service that goes against their faith,” according to the the document provided to Queerty.
As for the 2010 vs. 2012 issue? “Modeling turnout scenarios for 2010 and 2012 indicate that there is a small advantage to same?sex marriage supporters in a 2012 electorate. This is based on a considerably higher turnout that is expected in 2012 due to the Presidential election. However, 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.”
See What Does the Top-Secret California Marriage Polling Reveal? Queerty
See What Does the Top-Secret California Marriage Polling Reveal?
Queerty
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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 sameâ€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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After months of living legal limbo, Redondo Beach Mayor Mike Gin’s marriage was finally declared legal several days ago by the California Supreme Court. But marital validation was no tonic for Gin, who wasn’t celebrating the landmark decisions on same-sex marriage issued last week by the California Supreme Court.
“It’s a bittersweet feeling,” he admits. “My husband and I are thrilled about that part of the ruling that affects us, but there are many other couples now who cannot share in the happiness that we were able to experience on our wedding day. I’m hoping that someday all of us can experience that same happiness.”
Gin and his husband, Christopher Kreidel, were part of the pool of approximately 18,000 gay people married after the California Supreme Court ruled a year ago that same-sex marriages were legal, but before the Proposition 8 vote last fall banned same-sex marriage.
Despite the ruling early last week upholding Prop. 8, he is not discouraged. He notes that Prop. 22, the long-standing gay-marriage ban overturned by the courts last May, passed in 2000 with 60 percent of the vote, while Prop. 8 passed with only 52 percent.
“I think it is still a very strong social issue on both sides in our society right now,” he says. “But the voting numbers show that as a society we’re moving in the right direction.”
Gin is an unusual public official in that he is gay, married, Asian-American — and popular at a time when California politicians are reaching new lows in approval-rating polls. After serving eight years on the Redondo City Council and four as mayor, Gin has developed a reputation as a classic old-school politician who listens patiently to residents, considers a wide array of arguments and interests before making a decision, and goes out of his way to avoid confrontation.
See Mike Gin, Redondo Beach’s Chinese-American, Rotarian, Gay Mayor
LA Weekly
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Updated: 05/29/2009 09:09:52 PM MDT
There is no denying that the decision of the California Supreme Court to uphold Proposition 8 is a setback for gay families and anyone who supports marriage equality. But the reversal is temporary.
One day in the not-too-distant future — years maybe, but not decades — Prop. 8 will be seen as the swan song of the old order. California’s constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage garnered 52 percent of the vote in November, but it was the last gasp of an atavistic and deeply negative conception of homosexuality whose grip on the American psyche will soon be broken for good (and good riddance).
Gay marriage is coming to America.
The speed at which gay marriage went from a wedge issue that Republicans used during the 2004 election to roust religiously conservative voters to the polls, to its wide acceptance today, is nothing short of a political tsunami. Five states have now legalized same-sex marriage either by statute or court order: Massachusetts, Connecticut, Iowa, Vermont and Maine. The last three did so in the few months since California’s Prop. 8 case was argued. With the momentum building throughout the Northeast, measures legalizing gay marriage are considered viable in New York, New Jersey and New Hampshire.
The polls are reflecting this rapid shift in the cultural landscape.
See Blumner: Gay marriage will come Salt Lake Tribune
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From the start of his run for governor, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom has tried to show there is more to his career than the gesture that won him worldwide fame: his 2004 decree legalizing same-sex marriage.
Yet there he was Tuesday on CNN’s “Larry King Live,” speaking out for gay rights after the state Supreme Court upheld Proposition 8, the same-sex marriage ban that Californians passed in November.
For Newsom and five major-party rivals, the resurgence of the same-sex marriage issue has added a new complication to the race for governor.
If gay rights groups get their way, the nominees to succeed Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger will share the November 2010 ballot with a measure to repeal Proposition 8, turning an emotionally charged cultural issue into a central focus of the campaign.
Across the nation, the subject has grown more challenging for candidates of all kinds as the mere concept has given way to the reality of tens of thousands of married gay couples. Massachusetts, Connecticut, Vermont, Maine and Iowa have legalized same-sex marriage.
Voters have also shifted their views. In April, a Washington Post-ABC News poll found that 49% of Americans said gay marriage should be legal, and 46% said it should be illegal. Three years earlier, 36% had said it should be legal, and 58% had said it should not.
“The trajectory of public opinion on this issue has been dramatic,” said Democratic pollster Mark Mellman.
In California, where Newsom’s rebel edict in 2004 touched off the court battles that spawned some 18,000 marriages that were declared valid Tuesday, candidates for governor face multiple dangers on the issue. Although support for gay marriage has risen over the last decade — the 52% yes vote on Proposition 8 was down from 61% on a similar measure in 2000 — the issue still sharply divides Californians.
“People care about this one — a lot — on both sides,” said Steve Smith, a Democratic strategist who worked on the campaign to defeat Proposition 8.
A Field Poll taken three months ago affirmed stark generational and ideological splits on same-sex marriage.
Younger voters were far more likely to approve of it than older voters. And Democrats overwhelmingly favored it, while Republicans were strongly opposed.
In that environment, candidates for governor are juggling wildly different needs for the primaries and the general election. See Gay marriage a minefield for candidates for California governor Los Angeles Times * Tags = gay men gay news lesbian news transgender bisexual
CARSON CITY — As promised, Gov. Jim Gibbons on Monday vetoed the bill that would allow same- and opposite-sex couples to become legal domestic partners with many of the rights and privileges of married couples.
In his veto message, Gibbons said he rejected state Senate Bill 283 because it is contrary to the wishes of Nevada voters who in 2002 approved the Protection of Marriage constitutional amendment. That amendment stipulates a marriage may be between only a man and a woman.
But the governor said his veto should not be taken to mean he believes that “domestic partners are in any way undeserving of rights and protections.”
He said that on Saturday he signed a bill to prevent discrimination in public accommodations based on one’s sexual orientation.
“I am disappointed, but it wasn’t unexpected,” said state Sen. David Parks, D-Las Vegas, about the veto.
Parks, the bill’s sponsor, who is openly gay, said times have changed since the Protection of Marriage amendment, and some polls show strong public support for domestic partner legislation.
However, a Las Vegas Review-Journal poll conducted May 12-14 found that 50 percent of poll respondents opposed the proposal, with 38 percent favoring it and 12 percent undecided.
See * Nevada governor follows through on threat to veto DP bill
Las Vegas Review-Journal (5/26) Tags = gay men gay news lesbian news transgender bisexual
ONE OF the big political stories of 2009 has been the surge in American public approval for gay marriage and the growing number of states – including the heartland bastion of Iowa – that have legalized the practice, but here in Pennsylvania the pages of this political thriller are still blank.
Even as the neighboring states of New York and New Jersey seem to be racing to legalize gay marriage, perhaps as early as this year, advocates for gay rights in Pennsylvania find themselves still locked in a defensive posture. Indeed, Republican state Sen. John Eichelberger, of Blair County, intends today to introduce an amendment to the state constitution aimed at blocking any courts from approving same-sex marriage in the Keystone State.
“Clearly, Pennsylvania is among Alabama and Mississippi in terms of gay rights,” said Malcolm Lazin, the executive director of the Equality Forum, the gay-rights-advocacy group based in Philadelphia.
See
Philadelphia Inquirer -* Tags = gay men gay news lesbian news transgender bisexual
New polling data was released on same-sex marriage by Quinnipiac University today, showing that New Yorkers are split on the legalization of same-sex marriage. According to the pollster, “Voters opposed same-sex marriage 55 – 37 percent in an April 15, 2004″ similar poll:
New York State voters are split 46 – 46 percent on whether same-sex couples should be allowed to marry, with black voters opposed 57 – 35 percent while white voters tip narrowly in favor of gay marriage 47 – 45 percent, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released today.
In this latest survey of more than 2,800 voters, New York State voters support same-sex civil unions 65 – 27 percent with 67 – 24 percent support from white voters and 52 – 39 percent support from black voters.
Jews support same-sex marriage 61 – 34 percent as Catholics oppose it 53 – 39 percent and Protestants say no 55 – 38 percent. Voters who attend religious services at least once a week oppose same-sex marriage 66 – 26 percent, while those who attend services less frequently support same-sex marriage 56 – 36 percent. Women support the measure 49 – 42 percent while men oppose it 51 – 42 percent.
Democrats support same-sex marriage 59 – 34 percent, but Republicans oppose it 68 – 24 percent while independent voters split with 46 percent in favor and 45 percent opposed. Same- sex marriage wins 61 – 33 percent support among voters 18 to 34 years old and gets 48 – 44 percent support among voters 35 to 54 years old, while voters over 55 oppose it 55 – 37 percent.
Gays and lesbians are born that way, 46 percent of New York State voters say, while 29 percent say people choose their sexual orientation and 6 percent say it is decided by upbringing.
Deeper analysis of the poll and more figures can be found here.
See Quinnipiac poll shows racial divide on marriage support among New Yorkers
Towleroad (5/14) * Tags = gay men gay news lesbian news transgender bisexual
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