(Angus Reid Global Scan) – Many adults in Arizona support a proposal to ban same-sex marriage, according to a poll by the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University and KAET-TV. 49 per cent of respondents in the Grand Canyon State are in favour of an amendment that would make marriage valid only when it is between one man and one woman.
(Angus Reid Global Scan) – Many adults in Arizona support a proposal to ban same-sex marriage, according to a poll by the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University and KAET-TV. 49 per cent of respondents in the Grand Canyon State are in favour of an amendment that would make marriage valid only when it is between one man and one woman.
In 2004, marriage certificates were issued to same-sex couples by local governments in the states of California, Oregon, New Mexico and New York. Last May, the state of Massachusetts allowed gay and lesbian partners to apply for marriage licenses, the first state-sanctioned homosexual weddings in the United States.
During the January 2004 State of the Union address, U.S. president George W. Bush said, “Activist judges (…) have begun redefining marriage by court order, without regard for the will of the people and their elected representatives.” Last July, Bush renewed his call for federal constitutional changes, saying, “American democracy, not court orders, should decide the future of marriage in America.”
Civil unions—currently available in the states of Vermont and Connecticut—give same-sex partners the same legal rights of married couples such as inheritance, insurance and hospital visiting privileges. A California law grants domestic partners the same legal rights of married couples, with the exception of filing joint income tax returns.
Last November, voters in 11 American states enacted amendments to define marriage as the union between a man and a woman.
Polling Data
A group called Protect Marriage Arizona has begun a drive to put a proposed amendment to the state constitution on the 2006 ballot that would make marriage valid only when it is between one man and one woman. It also would prohibit state and local government from creating or recognizing legal status for unmarried persons that is similar to that of married persons. How would you vote?
For the amendment | 49% |
Against the amendment | 41% |
Don’t know / No opinion | 10% |
Source: Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University / KAET-TV
Methodology: Telephone interviews to 357 registered Arizona voters, conducted from May 17 to May 22, 2005. Margin of error is 4.8 per cent.
