Poll: Minnesotans oppose marriage amendment
A poll commissioned by Equality Minnesota shows that a majority of people in this state are not taking the Republican wedge issue bait: 54 percent oppose the so-called gay marriage amendment, as opposed to 40 percent support. When asked if they support an amendment that bans civil unions, which this one does, support drops to 28 percent (the Star Tribune readers representative has a good column today about how stating that it is just an amendment banning gay marriage, not also banning civil unions, does a disservice to readers).
The poll asked more than 100 questions and found some interesting results. Most people are against gay marriage itself, but agree that the law Minnesota has banning gay marriage is adequate. A bit less than half believe that if gay marriage were allowed, "traditional" marriage would be hurt.
Of course, the homophobe amendment supporters are going to rant and rave about how this poll is biased or something, but I think it is clear that most Minnesotans want to talk about important issues, not divisive social issues.
posted by MN Politics Guru @ 15:27
2 Comments:
The problem with the Pioneer Press story on this poll is that it leads off with statistics on how many Minnesota voters support a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage (40%), and then later points out how that support drops if the amendment also bans civil unions (28%).
An amendment that simply bans same-sex marriage isn't even being debated. An amendment that bans same-sex marriage AND civil unions is what is being debated. So that should lead the story on this poll--not how many voters oppose an amendment that isn't even on the table.
Based on the survey results, and the reality of what the constitutional amendment being proposed states, I would have expected to see the story read something like this:
More than two-thirds of Minnesota voters oppose a state constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage and all legal equivalents, including civil unions, according to a statewide poll to be released today.
The survey found 72 percent of registered voters were against the proposed amendment, while only 28 percent supported it.
If the amendment did not make same-sex civil unions or domestic partnerships illegal and simply defined marriage as between one man and one woman, opposition to the measure drops from 72 percent to 54, suggesting that even a less restrictive constitutional amendment would not pass in November.
I just wonder what Katherine Kersten thinks when she reads this. I mean, after all, all the bigots...er, I mean, "normal people" oppose gay marriage, right?
And yes, Karl, your point is well-taken. My favorite part is that 77% of those polled view this as a distraction--which suggests that most Minnesotans don't really care if the DFL pulls this up for a floor vote or not.
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