GROAN....Field Poll finds California voters still split on marriage

[cboy4]

:wtf:

This is an indication we have a hell of a lot of work to do if we want to get this back on the initiative ballot in 2010 and win. But then again, we already knew this.





Leslie Fulbright, Chronicle Staff Writer
Tuesday, March 10, 2009

(03-10) 06:00 PDT -- Voters in California are sharply divided on same-sex marriage, and an amendment to overturn Prop. 8 would depend largely on campaigning and voter turnout, according to a Field Poll to be released today.

The poll of 761 registered voters shows 48 percent in favor of a constitutional amendment to allow same-sex marriages, with 47 percent opposing and 5 percent undecided.

The California Supreme Court is currently considering challenges to Prop. 8, the initiative passed by voters in November that banned same-sex marriage. Proponents say that if the court doesn't side with them, they will work on a measure to overturn the ban.

Though views on same-sex marriage vary greatly according to age, geography, political party and religious preference, the numbers overall are almost equally split.

"Opinions haven't changed much since November," said Field Poll Director Mark DiCamillo of the election where 52 percent of voters approved Prop. 8. "The closeness of the divide suggests it would depend on the quality of the campaigning and voter turnout."

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/03/10/BAK316C4G1.DTL



http://field.com/fieldpollonline/subscribers/Rls2301.pdf

[dflprincess]

1. I bet a poll would show Americans still split on the 1964 Civil Rights Act

which is why individual rights should not be left to mob rule.

[cboy4]

2. Or perhaps more applicable, Loving v. Virginia.

But absolutely right on what you said. :applause:

Never should the majority be allowed to vote on the human rights of the minority.

It's disgraceful.

FYI, for those who may not know:

Loving v. Virginia, 388 U.S. 1 (1967)<1>, was a landmark civil rights case in which the United States Supreme Court declared Virginia's anti-miscegenation statute, the "Racial Integrity Act of 1924", unconstitutional, thereby overturning Pace v. Alabama (1883) and ending all race-based legal restrictions on marriage in the United States.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loving_v._Virginia

[chollybocker]

3. Zactly.

Also, that second pic of the crowd can't possibly be real. Pro-8 and No-On-8 factions generally don't protest side-by-side. The weirdness.

[keepCAblue]

4. I helped make the big sign in the back ("Symbol of Hate")...

So I know the sign is real...the sign is one of the many large banners Craig Person's "Banner Brigade" have made against prop h8. So, the sign is real, don't know about the photo but my guess it was taken in SF in Civic Plaza during the CA Supreme Court Prop h8 hearing on March 5th.

[chollybocker]

6. No doubt. But why are there "Marriage =1 man +1 woman" signs intermingled?

It's a strange photo. That's all I'm saying.

[ruggerson]

5. When the USSC decided Loving, 75% of Americans opposed interracial marriage

But anything to do with US is always controversial.

I love it when the media talks about the "divisive" "controversial" issue of gays in the military.

Only 80 fucking percent of Americans support gays in the military. I can't think of many issues LESS controversial.

[JackBeck]

7. One of the more frustrating stories I heard recently was from a CA field member

That I'm currently working with in NJ.

She shared with us over the weekend, as her eyes started to tear, how she met a lesbian couple while doing outreach in San Francisco and no matter how much push-back she gave, they found every excuse in the book not to volunteer before election day.

And then the next time she that couple was while they were marching in a demonstration protesting the passage of Prop 8.

Why do some of us continue to be reactionary instead of proactive? If you don't like the results of this poll and you live in California, get out there and do something about it.

Yelling at people on the internet doesn't stop the Right Wing from moving their agenda forward. Not sure if any of you have noticed, but their organizational and fundraising skills are shamefully far more effective than ours.

I guess what I'm trying to get at is what can each of us here pledge to do to make sure we move LGBTQ equality forward within our own communities?

[Eryemil]

8. The response from the GLBT community prior to the vote...

...was absolutely pitiful. Aside from the hardcore activists, which are a small minority, most people seemed content enough to just donate money if anything.

Of course, I'm not trying to shift the blame to us like I've seen some do. Ultimately the blame rests solely on the shoulders of the bigots that voted for it.

[JackBeck]

9. I hope you find the time to reconcile the beginning of your post

With how you concluded.

You, like, TOTALLY just proved my point.

[Eryemil]

10. You need to elaborate

Clearly something was lost in translation.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

13. i get both your points. we should have done more. however we are not the ones who voted to take away

rights from others, so maybe we didnt advocate enough but we cant really take responsibility for the bigotry of others either

however, for pragmatic purposes, our not doing as much as we can is unforgivable in itself

[dsc]

11. Honestly, this is better than I would have guessed

and likely better than an actual vote in 2010 would turn out. I expected us to be down by no less than 4 with about the same undecided.

[bluedawg12]

12. It's nauseating to put human rights up to a popularity contest.

it's degrading "selling" yourself and your life to make a pitch for fairness underlaw.

Either they don't see us as a minority, or they don't see us as humans, or both.