Fox News Poll: Only 37% Believe In Gay Nups
Take these numbers and multiply them by what you know of Fox News:
According to a Fox News poll released Wednesday, 37 percent of voters believe gays and lesbians should be allowed to get married legally. While that’s unchanged from 2010, when the question was most recently asked, it’s nearly double the 20 percent who felt that way in March 2004, the first time it was asked.
On the other hand, the poll finds 25 percent think there should be no legal recognition given to gay and lesbian relationships, down from 28 percent in 2010 and a high of 40 percent in 2004.The remaining one third (33 percent) think same-sex couples should be allowed a legal partnership similar to but not called marriage. While that number has bounced around a bit over the years, 33 percent also favored this middle-ground position in 2004.
But let us all remember that polls are capricious and often wrong.
I really don't care anything about the right wing fascist scum in Fox;
my rights are not up for a popularity contest.
Let the new SCOTUS decide the issue of equal rights, once we have appointed two/three more justices under Obama's second term and followed by Hillary's eight years.
Posted by: JackFknTwist | May 16, 2012 7:18:01 PM
whom did Fox poll--Fox viewers?
Posted by: DannyEastVillage | May 16, 2012 7:43:18 PM
The flaw with this poll is that it includes the civil union option so it can't be compared to other polls on marriage. How will those 33% voted when faced with a ballot question on marriage? It's anybody's guess. The lesson here is need to be better at explaining to people why civil unions are not an acceptable alternative.
Posted by: Ken | May 16, 2012 7:47:33 PM
I wouldn't be surprised if the 37% really IS the actual percentage of true supporters of marriage equality, with the other 14% or so who often claim to be supporters doing a "Bradley effect" on us. It's possible that marriage equality support may plateau for a few years. But virtually all the indicators lead to a pro-equality majority in the near future. Opponents are fighting a losing battle because once people lose the "it looks icky" viewpoint they have little else to go on except the long-term impact of gay marriage on society as a whole. This is beyond the ability of many to think about and beyond the interest of most people to speculate about - at least for very long.
Maggie and company would probably want to throttle me for saying this - but it's true.
Posted by: mary | May 16, 2012 7:48:42 PM
and only 5% believe fox news
Posted by: walter | May 16, 2012 7:51:55 PM
78 percent also believe the Earth is Flat.
Posted by: John Normile | May 16, 2012 7:55:35 PM
The flaw in the methodology is obvious -- they prime the audience toward anti-gay responses by FIRST asking whether they support or oppose a constitutional amendment to define marriage as between a man and a woman. The script is linked on the Fox page. Case closed.
Posted by: Pender | May 16, 2012 8:06:48 PM
It's Fox Noise. 'Nuff said.
Posted by: VoenixRising | May 16, 2012 8:17:17 PM
46% of the Mississppi Republicans want to ban interracial marriage also.
http://www.theatlanticwire.com/national/2011/04/mississippi-republicans/36455/
Posted by: Brian B. | May 16, 2012 8:37:50 PM
Aside from the bias in the questioning, there's actually some good news in there, especially considering it's being reported by Fox News. 37% favor gay marriage. 33% favor a "separate but equal" option not *called* marriage.
So even if the marriage equality number isn't what we might wish, that STILL means that 70% of the population favors some form of legal protection for gay relationships, which is nothing to sneeze at! Mitt Romney is running against both marriage AND civil unions for gays so that puts him decidedly outside the mainstream on this issue.
Now for the bad news. Today the New York Times reported on a CBS/NYT poll about gay marriage and if I'm reading their results correctly they say that 33% oppose ANY for of recognition, not the lower 25% from the Fox News poll. (They also had a Civil Unions option.)
http://douthat.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/05/16/the-riddle-of-gay-marriage-polling/
Posted by: Caliban | May 16, 2012 9:04:29 PM
I believe the poll numbers, and I think most gays are fooling themselves when they repeat misnomers such as "over half of Americans believe in gay marriage". B.S. The big NYTimes poll the other day concluded the same thing as the Fox poll: only 38% believed in gay marriage. Factor in the Bradley effect, which accounts for the spread between every gay marriage poll and voting contest so far, and you're possibly look as low as 30%. Face it, most people do not like gay marriage no matter how much Glee is on TV.
The same NYTimes poll shows Romney pulling ahead of Obama in almost every demographic. In fact, the only poll that still has Obama ahead since his marriage equality announcement, is Fox News.
Posted by: Mike C. | May 16, 2012 9:23:09 PM
The reality is, if you add the NYT and Fox News poll, it's about 30% of people who are solidly anti-gay. And these folks are getting more anti-gay, in fact, as we have made progresses. They're becoming more hateful. That's both scary and reaffirming, because they realize that we're truly making grounds, and they hate it.
Then there is about 40% of people who are solidly pro-equality. They truly support our rights without question, support our MARRIAGES without question. Those are our real supporters.
That leaves about 1/4th of the country who are basically in the middle. These are the people who are either apathetic regarding the entire issue, or are on the fence. That is where this "battle" will be won the next few years, at least in terms of public opinion and ballot initiatives, which side can gain the majority of undecideds, questioning populous. A lot of these people will say they're for marriage equality but vote differently or not vote on it at all because their conscious tells them not to. They're for equality when thinking about this in principle, but they're too damaged by bigotry and scared to truly cross that line and be a full-fledged supporter.
What does this all mean? Our rights, lives, everything regarding "gay" in this country is EXTREMELY 50-50 in this country. It's contentious, it's emotional, and it's getting more contentious now than ever and lines are being drawn. The backlash is already rearing it's ugly head against us. This is all pathetic, but we can take solace in the fact public opinion is moving towards our direction, and that young people are solidly with us. So we're winning. But the fight is going to be tough in the meantime.
Posted by: Francis | May 16, 2012 9:34:22 PM
The only surprise here is the Faux News didn't make up lower favorable numbers. Who besides the mouth breathers do they imagine they're fooling?
Posted by: Onnyjay | May 16, 2012 9:43:18 PM
I think we are winning the hearts and minds of most average Americans, and that's because we are the topic of conversation more and more often in their lives.
The big fight we have ahead is to take the conversation into the church and change their miss-conceptions of LGBT people as we are doing with the general population.
Posted by: Steve Pardue | May 16, 2012 9:45:27 PM
On the college campus where I teach, the students are overwhelmingly pro-equality -- the margin is probably 100 to 1 in favor of equality. Those kids are the future of this country and they all think it's completely crazy that anyone would be denied the right to marry the person they love because of gender. The future is coming -- it can't get here soon enough.
Posted by: kit | May 16, 2012 9:53:21 PM
Who the hell answers these surveys? I don't and no one I know does. Must be trailer trash and out of work has beens.
Posted by: JEFFUWS | May 16, 2012 9:57:06 PM
Kit, as someone who's studied the baby boom generation and its history in great detail I can tell you that it's always a mistake to predict any kind of future based on what college students will publicly admit to. One, they're very easily intimidated into hiding their true opinions if they even suspect they'll be ridiculed or hassled verbally. And two, they won't want to alientate professors who grade them. Also, while the future leaders come from the college educated segment of any young generation, these future leaders will need broad support when in adulthood and power and won't simply be able to do whatever they want. This was the main flaw of all commentators in the late 1960's who were predicting a very left wing future based on the student movements of that time.
It's hard to believe that marriage equality is supported 100 to 1 at most colleges. It will prevail long term, yes. But for other reasons.
Posted by: mary | May 16, 2012 10:25:50 PM
Actually, these numbers are confirmed by a very recent NYTimes/CBS News poll, which showed that about 38 percent of Americans support gay marriage, while about 24 prefer civil unions.
The question is which is the best way to measure support for same-sex marriage: simply ask if it should be legal or to give respondents the option of marriage, civil unions, or no recognition at all. I think the latter is best because it really measures commitment to support for same-sex marriage more than the former questioning. Pollsters and social scientists have been wondering why support for same-sex marriage seems to be significantly higher relative to votes on the issue. It could be that a lot people who say they support gay marriage in polls are very soft about that support and are prone to prefer civil unions and vote against gay marriage when they actually vote on the issue. IN contrast, the anti-gay marriage crowd is pretty solid, rigid, and fervent about their opposition, which also increases their voter turnout.
At any rate, one should be very skeptical of polls that show 50 percent or more support for gay marriage at this point. The very fact that voters have voted against gay marriage in every state, now about 40 states in all, on which it has been on the ballot should tell us that the polls are signficantly inflating the numbers.
Posted by: Malcolm | May 16, 2012 10:33:54 PM
Oh, and one more thing to note is that there is a tendency for gay rights support to decline when it seems to be on the cusp of tangible gains. In other words, people support gay rights more when the gains are theoretical, aspirational than when there is the potential for actual, tangible gay rights progress. For instance, gay rights support was steadily and gradually increasing in the late 90s and early 2000's UNTIL the Lawrence v Texas decision, and abruptly, support for all gay rights issues declined significantly for about a year before gradually increasing again. Likewise, when the MA and CA Supreme Courts ruled for gay marriage, support gay rights declined for much of those years before increasing again.
And just last week, Gallup showed that while gay marriage support was at 50 percent this month, this was a 3 percent decline from last year. Gallup also reported a slight decline in support on other gay rights issues. So, there definitely is a signficant backlash and rethink that occurs when gay marriage is in the spotlight or there are some major prospective gains on the horizon.
Posted by: Malcolm | May 16, 2012 10:45:57 PM
I for one, who happens to be gay thinks same-sex couples should be allowed a legal partnership [civil union] similar to but not called marriage.
Posted by: RichB in PS | May 16, 2012 10:57:25 PM
Rich B, that's an interesting position for a gay man to take. Is it that you think civil unions are enough, and don't want to alienate people who are offended by the word "marriage" changing meaning? I've never understood people who say they respect gay unions, but don't call them marriage because "marriage is our (straights) word for what WE have." To me if you have all the rights of a legally valid union you're married in essense,so why not use the term "married." It alway struck me as a childish claim - "I know my obsession with the word marriage is irrational, but as long as I let you have equal rights why can't you let me keep the word?" It makes you want to tell them "Grow up. It's only a WORD!"
Posted by: mary | May 16, 2012 11:09:01 PM
Also, if a significant percentage of people who tells pollsters that they support same-sex marriage when asked as a binary question actually would prefer same-sex unions be recognized as civil unions, you really can't count them to come out and vote for same-sex marriage. They are conflicted and ambivalent at best, not reliable voters.
Posted by: Malcolm | May 16, 2012 11:13:31 PM
Good points, Malcolm. At the end of the day, look-----most Americans are still very uncomfortable and insecure regarding us, and we have to accept that as a community. They're beginning to come around, in their heads they may feel as if we deserve equality, but there is a mental block there. I actually do think around 50% support marriage equality, in spirit. But that's different than consciously supporting it. A lot of people are in the middle, wrestling with it, debating in their minds what they should believe, going against what they've been taught their entire lives and not willing nor ready to fully commit. And the oncoming backlash is no surprise, regarding this.
People are scared of us. That's where the constant attacks against us come, that's why you're seeing a coalition of religious groups come together solely to discriminate against our community, it's why you see such horrible cases of homophobia in schools with little done about it from teachers. The increase in awareness has helped matters and we're making a lot of progress overall. But the fear that is associated with our lives is still there, and it's going to be there for a long while still.
Some people forget that around 80% of people identify as Christians. 90% are religious to some degree. And a majority of those folk adhere to religious-conservative principles parroted by their preachers. Young people are less brainwashed by this but it's going to take a long while for people to move beyond these conflicts within themselves and for enough older bigots to die off to fully change things.
Ultimately, what "average Americans" think is irrelevant because our rights are not conditional nor a popularity contest.
Posted by: Francis | May 16, 2012 11:15:51 PM
Even if those were realistic poll numbers (they seem skewed low to me by the sequence of questions), we're still way ahead of how mixed-race marriages were viewed AFTER Loving v. Virginia.
And the future will only favor us because what college students are saying today is not going to go backwards--once anyone with a brain sees how innocuous marriage equality is to even the most straight, religious lives, there is no turning back.
It just so happens that the rational (assuming they are rational--the SC with its band of right-wing activists creates doubt) courts will likely be on our side--as is typical with civil rights--faster than the irrational public, within a few years.
As for the suggestion that we favor CUs over civil marriage equality, it's not going to happen that way. There is no justifiable reason to have a parallel system for equal rights (in fact, it makes no sense, as all CU legislation has shown), and all the court cases going forward hinge on marriage, not CUs. CUs have been a useful stepping stone, nothing more, nothing less.
Statistic to remember, from this week's NYer: "In 1968, the year after the Supreme Court struck down Virginia’s anti-miscegenation law, in Loving v. Virginia, seventy-two per cent of Americans disapproved of marriage between whites and non-whites, and only twenty per cent approved."
Posted by: Ernie | May 16, 2012 11:41:54 PM
My partner and I have been together almost 25 years. We have been together through richer, through poorer, in sickness and in health. Our relationship is longer in duration than the multiple legal unions of any of our siblings. We love, honor, and obey the tenants of our commitment to one another.
But let's just make it a partnership, a civil union, for legal purposes. Forget the moral and spiritual bond and commitment. Let's just reduce it to convenience.
Because our relationship just ain't right.
Because gays are icky.
We should be grateful that we haven't been purged.
Posted by: TJ | May 16, 2012 11:53:04 PM