In the last decade or so the opinion of Americans toward same-sex marriages has radically changed. Poll after poll has shown that while only a few years ago most Americans opposed same-sex marriages, now a small majority actually support the rights of gays/lesbians to marry the person they love. This has been a remarkable turn-around in a very short period of time, and it was shown to be real in the last election -- when the people of four states voted to approve same-sex marriages, and a fifth state voted down a constitutional amendment that would have prevented it.But a new poll shows that the change in thinking may actually be much deeper than originally thought. According to a new Gallup Poll (conducted between November 26th and 29th of a random national sample of 1,015 adults), even larger percentages believe that gay and lesbian couples should have the same rights as heterosexual married couples (whether you call their same-sex union a marriage, a civil union, or something else). And most surprisingly of all, this view cuts across political lines. Consider the following numbers (with the percentages shown being those in favor of equal rights for same-sex couples):
DO YOU THINK THERE SHOULD BE INHERITANCE RIGHTS FOR GAY AND LESBIAN DOMESTIC PARTNERS OR SPOUSES?
General public...............78%
Democrats................88%
Independents...............77%
Republicans...............68%
DO YOU THINK THERE SHOULD BE HEALTH INSURANCE AND OTHER EMPLOYEE BENEFITS FOR GAY AND LESBIAN DOMESTIC PARTNERS AND SPOUSES?
General public...............77%
Democrats...............94%
Independents...............77%
Republicans...............61%
DO YOU THINK THERE SHOULD BE ADOPTION RIGHTS FOR GAYS AND LESBIANS SO THEY CAN ADOPT CHILDREN?
General Public...............61%
Democrats...............75%
Independents...............61%
Republicans...............46%
Those are some pretty incredible numbers, well outside the margin of error of the poll (4 points). The only group showing less than a majority in any of the three areas was Republicans on the question about adoption rights -- and even there nearly half approved of it (46%).
It is becoming more obvious every day, that on the question of rights for same-sex couples, the Republican Party is out-of-step with the opinions of more and more Americans -- including many members of their own party. The American people want same-sex couples to have the same (equal) rights as heterosexual couples enjoy.
