Poll shows opposition to gay marriage in NJ

Poll Suggests Opposition To Gay Marriage Grew After New Jersey Court Ruling

by 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff
November 2, 2006 - 5:00 pm ET

(Trenton, New Jersey) A public opinion poll taken after the New Jersey Supreme Court ruled same-sex couples must have all the rights of marriage shows that support for an amendment to the state constitution to ban gay marriage has grown.
But, LGBT civil rights leaders say they are neither surprised nor worried by the findings.
The Rutgers-Eagleton poll found that a slight majority now favor an amendment, the reversal of a similar poll in June that found slightly more than half of those questioned would oppose an amendment.
About 30 percent of those surveyed said they would support same-sex marriage, while 40 percent would support civil unions.
In the June Rutgers poll, 50 percent said gay marriage should be allowed and 65 percent supported civil unions.
Both polls did not ask respondents to chose between civil unions or marriage, allowing those questioned to indicate support for both if they chose.
Kevin Cathcart, Executive Director at Lambda Legal the organization that represented the plaintiffs resulting in the New Jersey Supreme Court decision last week said he is not surprised by the shift in support.
"We've been through this before in Massachusetts where polling was down initially but then went back up after people heard from same-sex couples," said Cathcart.
"Once we help people in New Jersey to understand why civil unions aren't equal we're confident polling with will trend in our direction and justice will prevail."
The Court gave the New Jersey State Legislature 180 days to act on the decision to grant same-sex couples the rights and benefits enjoyed by different-sex married couples but left it up to the legislators to decide in the first instance whether to call it marriage or some other scheme like civil unions. (story)
Assemblyman Reed Gusciora (D) has said he'll press ahead with marriage legislation, acknowledging it may be a long process.
The leadership in the Legislature and Gov. Jon Corzine (D) have said they favor civil unions, but have indicated they are in no rush to proceed with legislation despite the time limit imposed by the court. (story)