Although U.S.
senators Bill Frist and Rick Santorum have vowed to bring
the Federal Marriage Amendment to a Senate vote the first
week of June, a new poll shows that Americans don't
think the issue should be a priority. The poll,
conducted by Peter D. Hart Research Associates for the Human
Rights Campaign, shows that an amendment outlawing same-sex
marriage ranks last on a list of priorities for
Congress, after such issues as affordable health care,
Iraq, new ethics and lobbying laws, and even an
amendment banning flag burning.
"The Federal Marriage Amendment does not rank on
the list of voters' priorities anywhere near where one
might expect," Samantha Smoot, political director
for HRC, said at a press conference Monday. "As far as
it's a political ploy, it doesn't seem so far to be
distracting the American public."
The poll also showed that regardless of how
respondents felt about same-sex marriage, 63% of
them said they have strong or some concerns about
amending the Constitution over the issue. And although
the U.S. Catholic Church has recently stepped up its
support for the Federal Marriage Amendment, initiating a
write-in postcard campaign for its parishioners, 69%
of Catholic respondents said they were concerned about
the amendment.
And while 53% of respondents favor banning
same-sex marriage, only 43% favor banning both
marriage and civil unions for gay couples, which the
proposed amendment would do. The survey showed that support
for civil unions has grown by four percentage points
since 2004 to 40%, while support for marriage equality
declined two points to 25%.
The survey polled 802 registered voters
nationwide in April. It has a margin of error of 3.5%.
(The Advocate)
