The Hindu : Gay marriage, a key poll issue

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Feb 29, 2004

International

International

Gay marriage, a key poll issue

By Sridhar Krishnaswami

WASHINGTON, FEB. 28. A survey is showing that the subject of gay marriage is a more powerful social issue for voters than abortion and gun control. According to a poll released by the Pew Research Centre, four of 10 voters have said that they would not vote for a candidate who disagrees with them on gay marriage even if they agreed with the candidate on most other issues; but only 34 per cent felt the same way when it came to abortion; and 32 per cent who felt that way when it came to disagreement on the subject of gun control.

People opposed gay marriage by more than a two-to-one margin but they did not feel that strongly about a constitutional amendment. Asked if an amendment was a top priority for them, they placed it in the 21st out of 22 possible choices. The poll taken between February 11 and 16 showed that 45 per cent of the people saying that they strongly opposed allowing gays and lesbians to marry legally.

The issue has become a campaign issue after the U.S. President, George W. Bush, announced that he is for a constitutional amendment banning gay marriages. Meanwhile, a legal and a political battle is brewing in the State of New York after the Mayor of New Paltz, a small town some 130 km from the New York city, started legalising same sex marriages, taking the cue from San Francisco where hundreds of gay marriages have been performed by the Mayor in the last several days.

The Governor of New York, George Pataki, a Republican, has asked the Attorney-General, Eliot Spitzer, to seek a court order stopping the marriages. But Mr. Spitzer, a Democrat and one who is likely to challenge Mr. Pataki in 2006, has said that he will not be seeking an injunction against the Mayor of New Paltz or any other Mayor solemnising gay marriages in the State.

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