Burnt Orange Report

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Hmmm... fresh on the heels of this poll from Gallup / USA Today - http://washingtontimes.com/national/20050401-114205-2153r.htm

Public opposition to "marriages" between homosexuals is at an all-time high, according to a poll released yesterday.

When asked whether they thought same-sex "marriages" should be recognized by the law as valid and come with the same rights as traditional marriages, 68 percent of the respondents in the CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll said they should not.

Twenty-eight percent said same-sex "marriages" should be valid and 4 percent had no opinion. The survey of 443 adults was conducted March 18 to 20.

A similar poll by Gallup last year found that 55 percent thought homosexual "marriages" should not be valid, while 42 percent said they should be recognized.

That's a 13% swing against gay marriage in only a year. Any comments?

Do you have the poll results from the days of constitutional bans on interracial marriage?

Oh lordy...

I just wanted to learn what you make of this poll which was released today...

But if you're going to throw out the same, tired old lines, I guess I'll ask elsewhere.

I'm sorry, its way past time to take out my contacts... this poll was released last Friday. Maybe it was an April Fools' joke. =P

Aw I wish I had known about this when I was at the capitol, I would have stopped by. You should have emailed people!

Since Karl-Thomas asked, I'll oblige...

In 1958, when the US Supreme Court heard the case of Naim v Naim regarding Virginia's miscegenation law (and punted on the merits of the case), a Gallup poll showed a mere 4% of white Americans approved of interracial marriage. That's not a typo. Only FOUR percent. The undecideds were at 2%, leaving a whooping 94% disapproving of interracial marriage.

Ten years later and a year after the Court struck down all miscegenation laws, 72% of disapproved of intereracial marriages in another Gallup Poll. By 1991, the disapproval rate natiowide had dropped to 42%, but remained a majority 54% in the South. In a 2003 poll by Gallup, the rate of approval of interracial marriage had climbed to 73%.

That's quite a turn around in 45 years. And the turnaround in same sex marriage is poised to occur more quickly. Opinion polls in the early 90's put approval of same sex marriage between 20-25%. Most polls now put it between 30-40% depending on the wording. And most polls show majority (though some a plurality) favoring some form of partnership rights for same sex couples that are close to the rights confered by marriage.

The most important aspect though of these polls is the correlation to age. The people most opposed to same sex marriage are older Americans while younger Americans have no problem with it what so ever. Demographically, the fight is over and same sex marriage has won. The only question is when does the opposition admit defeat: now or only after history lumps them with the "Segregation now !! Segregation tomorrow!! Segregation forever!!" bigot crowd. It is no small irony that the arguments of those people that defended miscegenation laws then are still being used to defend anti-same sex marriage laws today.

Thanks Craig!!!! And Chris, it's not a tired old line, it's a valid point of argument.