Jerseyans support civil unions for gay couples
Poll shows liberal state attitude differs from national numbers
Monday, September 29, 2003
BY JUDY PEET
Star-Ledger Staff
They may not endorse same-sex marriage, but a majority of New Jerseyans favor "civil unions" that would confer many of the same legal benefits of matrimony to lesbian and gay couples, according to the latest Star-Ledger/Eagleton-Rutgers Poll.
In responses much more liberal than previous national polls, 52 percent of New Jersey residents support civil unions and six out of 10 said same-sex couples should be entitled to health insurance and Social Security benefits through their partners.
Even on the subject of marriage rites -- a topic the respondents found more difficult to accept -- support for legalizing gay marriage ran 43 percent overall and as high as 64 percent among younger New Jerseyans, the poll found.
By comparison, a recent national poll by ABC News found that only 37 percent of Americans favor legalizing gay marriage and only 40 percent support civil unions.
"When it comes to the legal status of homosexual partnerships, New Jerseyans tend to be more progressive than the nation as a whole, particularly with regard to the idea of civil unions," said Patrick Murray, the poll's associate director.
Murray said, however, that the responses were very much age related. While support for same-sex marriage and benefits was strong among young New Jerseyans, the majority of respondents over age 50 favored neither.
"It's just the way I was raised," said William Weber, 65, of Hardwick. "I think gay people have a right to live how they want, but I don't think it's right."
Several respondents distinguished between legal and moral issues.
"If a gay couple have been in a relationship for 20 years, they are entitled to the same legal rights as anybody else," said Karen Cavalieri, 43, of Rochelle Park. "But marriage is a religious institution and in the eyes of God, I don't think it's right."
Perhaps the most surprising results of the poll -- particularly after a summer when the Vatican aggressively argued against legalizing gay marriage -- were that the state's Catholics supported same-sex unions significantly more than Protestants.
Forty-three percent of Catholics said they favored same-sex marriage, compared to 32 percent of Protestants polled. The difference may be less about religion, however, than age.
"The Protestant population in New Jersey tends to be skewed toward older adults," Murray said. "And it is the age-based disparity in opinion ... that we are seeing in these denominational results."
On the question of legalizing marriage, the favorable responses ranged from 64 percent among those ages 18 to 29, to only 27 percent for those ages 50 and older. Even in the over-50 age group, however, four out of 10 people still favored civil unions.
As with other groups, the Catholics who supported gay marriage tended to be younger members of the church.
"I may not be a traditional Catholic, but I wish the church could be more flexible because there are gays who are very serious about their faith," said Elizabeth Roberts, 24, of Manchester.
"Maybe I could burn in hell for thinking gays are the same as anybody else and entitled to the same rights, but I just don't think it's that big a deal," said Terrance Farrell, 27, of North Brunswick.
The issue is becoming a big deal in New Jersey, a key state in the gay marriage battlefield. Seven gay couples have filed a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of a state law barring same-sex marriage, and there is a civil union bill pending in the Legislature that would extend benefits to gay and unmarried heterosexual couples.
Gay rights activists said the campaign against legalizing gay marriage -- one actively supported by the Vatican, the religious right and the White House -- could account for a drop in the positive response in New Jersey in comparison to a similar poll released in July.
That Zogby International Poll, commissioned by advocates for legalizing same-sex unions, found that 55 percent of New Jerseyans overall and 57 percent of Catholics favored such action.
"While the new numbers may be lower, they still show nearly half the state supports legalizing gay marriage," said Michael Adams, spokesman for the Lambda Legal Defense & Education Fund, a nonprofit advocacy group for gays that is lobbying for New Jersey's proposed domestic partner bill. "And this is after the right wing spent the entire summer trying to scare everyone about homosexuals."
A different spin on the numbers was offered by John Tomicki, executive director of the League of American Families, a group strongly opposed to same-sex marriage.
"These numbers show what we have always said, that the Zogby poll was flawed and a majority of the public support marriage as being defined solely as a union between one man and one woman," Tomicki said. "At best, and we don't necessarily agree, the public is evenly divided on the issue and that should not be enough to change public policy."
The Eagleton poll also found that 53 percent of state residents believe New Jersey government should recognize a same-sex marriage if it were performed in another state and the couple moved here.
Currently that is a moot point, since no state allows legal same-sex marriage, although Vermont did enact a law three years ago establishing civil unions for gays and lesbians.
Of course they did. They watch MTV, where anything is normal, don't they?
By the way Coleus, excellent choice of colour for your highlighting.
I just can't stand ignorance running rampant. Hey Elizabeth! If they are practicing homosexual behavior, which is explicitly outlawed by the Bible (and Catholic Doctrine) then they are not serious about their faith.
Remember the second law of homosexuality:
To the mentally healthy person (heterosexual), sex is something they do
To the mentally diseased person ('homosexual'), sex is everything they are