The Public Religion Research Institute has released a heartening — yet frustrating — survey on support for marriage equality in California. I’m still digesting it, but this leapt out at me.
- PRRI first asked about marriage vs. civil unions vs. no recognition at all:
- Marriage: 42%
- Civil unions: 31%
- No recognition: 24%
- Then PRRI added the condition that “no church or congregation would be required to perform marriages for gay couples”:
- Marriage: 54%
- Civil unions: 22%
- No recognition: 21%
- Finally, PRRI added the condition that the law only provide for “civil marriages like you get at city hall”:
- Marriage: 61%
- Civil unions: 15%
- No recognition: 21%
That’s huge. And it’s heartening, because those additional conditions are already met. Courts have long decided that churches and clergy don’t have to marry anyone who doesn’t meet their doctrinal requirements. Further, marriage equality initiatives and judgments have only ever been about civil marriage. The First Amendment protects churches from infringement on these points.
The disheartening thing is that…those additional conditions are already met. Obviously people don’t know that, or we’d have seen 61% support in the first question. Our opponents don’t like to talk about these built-in Constitutional protections. Sometimes they deny they even exist. It’s obvious why.
What does all this mean? One side of the battle counts on a frightened, deceived electorate. The other side wins if people know the truth. So who has the moral high ground here?
54-61% puts California in line with western Europe, where support is mostly around 55%-70%; the peak is in the Netherlands, at 81%, while support is lowest in Portugal, at 52%.
Of course we have the moral high ground. We have always been about what REAL science says is best for families and children. We have always been about what the Constitution REALLY says about equal protection under the law. The other side can only win by obfuscating all of this, and by denying education and truth from the very people they’re claiming to protect.
Well done, as always, Rob. xoxo
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I won’t have much confidence in these polls until they become a lot more lopsided in our favor. During the lead-up to the next voter referendum, NOM will be there with truckloads of money to whip up fear of the homos coming to pollute their children. And it only takes a glimmer of fear for someone to vote against us when they don’t perceive any personal benefit in voting in favor of us.
Our side needs to educate voters on how full equality for gays benefits all of society. I think the major area of benefit is in removing the social pressures whereby homosexuals feel compelled to “pass” as straight, which often involves deceiving an opposite-sex person into marrying them. If people want to vote pro-family, they should be voting for full equality.
And we STILL need a campaign that encourages people to ocme out. I have said this over and over to anyone who would even listen a little bit. Our biggest resource is ourselves. A portion of all campaign money should be directed at our own people, urging them to come out to their families and fi4ends and co-workers.
But as long as people stay in the closet, and we ocntinue to pretend the closet does not exist, we’llcontinue to lose these battles.