Survey: R.I. voters favor same-sex marriage
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Same-Sex Marriage
More than half of Rhode Island voters say they favor same-sex marriage.Published: May 27, 2009
Updated: May 27, 2009
PROVIDENCE—A survey released Wednesday shows that more than half of Rhode Island voters favor a law allowing same-sex marriage, leading advocates to point out to state leadership that it’s what residents want.
A Brown University poll showed 60 percent of registered voters in the state said they would support a law allowing gay couples to marry, and 75 percent said they would support a law allowing civil unions. Thirty-one percent said they would oppose a same-sex marriage law.
“I think that the legislature needs to understand that doing the right thing, upholding the Constitution, making sure that everybody has equality and fair rights in Rhode Island, is their job and that they are supported by the people of Rhode Island,“ Kathy Cushnir of Marriage Equality Rhode Island told NBC 10.
While 77 percent of Democrats polled said they would support same-sex marriage, only 28 percent of Republicans shared that view.
Results also showed younger voters more heavily favored same-sex marriage. Eighty-seven percent of voters ages 18-29 supported it, as opposed to 32 percent of voters 70 and older.
The poll was conducted May 18-20 with a random sample of 593 registered voters statewide. Overall, the margin of error was plus or minus about 4 percentage points.
Related Link: Complete Survey Results
Christopher Plante, executive director for the Rhode Island chapter of the National Organization for Marriage, pointed out that polls showed California voters supported same-sex marriage, which they banned in the November election.
“The same-sex marriage movement is about a small minority of people trying to radically alter the historic definition of marriage to suit their lifestyle,“ Plante said in a statement.
The push to legalize same-sex marriage has encountered difficulty in Rhode Island. Almost half of Rhode Islanders identify themselves as Roman Catholic, a larger percentage than any other state, according to a recent survey by Trinity College in Connecticut. Religious leaders have continued to voice opposition to same-sex marriage.
“Given the intense lobbying efforts by proponents of gay marriage, no one should be surprised by the findings of this particular poll,“ the Roman Catholic Diocese of Providence said in a written statement. “While there is clearly a lot of work to be done, we will renew our efforts to explain the dignity of marriage as designed by God.“
Bills legalizing same-sex marriage have been introduced in the State House every year since 1997, but none has been approved by a legislative committee. House Speaker William Murphy and Senate President M. Teresa Paiva-Weed, both Democrats and Catholics, oppose same-sex marriage, and Republican Gov. Don Carcieri - another Catholic - would likely veto such a measure.
This year, bills are in committee in both the House and Senate, with the House Judiciary Committee recommending the measure be held for further study, effectively killing the bill.
Still, state Rep. Frank Ferri, a Warwick Democrat and former chair of Marriage Equality Rhode Island, said the poll shows officials the growing support for gay marriage in Rhode Island.
“Gay marriage is just like any other marriage and the more we talk about it and the more we read about it just reinforces that,“ Ferri said.
Four of the other five New England states have legalized same-sex marriage: Massachusetts, Connecticut, Vermont and Maine. New Hampshire lawmakers are working to pass a same-sex marriage bill that will be signed by the governor.
NBC 10 News contributed to this report.
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Reader Reactions
Gay marriage ?
Let them marry , my wife and myself are divorced we could not take being taxed extra money every Day to be considered moral by the church .
We have a Trust set up that also saves us on Tax money the Government wants everyone to pay higher and higher taxes to support illegal immigration and bail outs for big business screw them i will take every legal tax break i can marriage is just another expense for suckers .
Bob Cumberland
Hazard why don’t you learn how to read. I told you I am female & not gay. I did not say anything about teaching 10 year olds about gay people. I told you see what they are learning from their friends in school. As far as my family coming from a circus I happen to be A VERY Proud SINGLE mom of a STRAIGHT son who has never been in trouble, graduated high school works and cares about people. You are sticking your nose where it doesn’t belong when you tell gay people they can’t get married. As far as weakness everyone has one hidden somewhere. NO one NOt even you is perfect.
wow i guess you dont care if your family comes from the circus. I dont stick my nose where it dont belong like your gay propaganda!Yea and u talk about 10yr olds learning its ok to be a pig, when most of them dont even know what it is. Your brian washing our youth with your gay propaganda honestly i dont want to hear about it anymore enough is enough.I do not agree with your acceptance of weak people.Deal with it.
Hazard one more thing. I bet if gay people didn’t have to fight for what should be their right they wouldn’t be on tv. I bet they would get married and live a nice quite life like all the good man/woman marriages out there. I have met many gay people thru out my life and I have to say I would rather have them for friends than someone like you. They care about other people.
Hazard 1st I am female & I am not gay. I have done my part in what you feel is right. I married & had a child just not at the same time Opps maybe I shouldn’t have said that LOL. I don’t hate you I feel bad for your & your children to have such a closed mind nasty parent. I feel bad for people who do have their own lives & feel they have to stick their nose into everyone elses.
Kigrube you still have not answered my question what would you do if your child came home and told you they were gay. I wish you would give a good reason for believing you have the right to vote for gay marriage. How does this effect law, education, social services, medical or insurance. It’s a marriage between two people who love each other. Sorry to say marriage is not what it used to be. You can have the two best catholics and they can still get divorced. State or Church should not have the right to tell two people they can not marry. This is nothing like the death penalty or people in neighborhoods being informed they have a sex offender living near them. Both of these can be harmful to other people. Marriage of two gay people is not. It does not hurt the children out there today. Stop and listen to kids from 9 & up see what they are learning in school it is not all reading & math. Also see the story on MSN about the former “GAY” archbishop Rembert Weakland. See the quote made by Rev. Donald Cozzen Priesthood is or is becoming Gay
lol you guys must be gay thats why you defend them. Being gay isnt right and it never has been. and gay priest what are you talking about. I hope all those GAY diddlers burn for going against their beleifsn and destroying the church image! but thats a different story… If you want to be a useless waste of life and stick things in ur sodomist bum then i dont wanna hear about it. Invading the tv and media with your gay propaganda iam tired of it hate me all you want but thats what it is ,call me ignorant, i dont think so iam very intelligent but I dont care for your pro gay views and never will. Oh and if your son was gay question or whatever >i wouldnt talk to he/she till they got there life on track and do whats right and stop disgracing the family name. Stop talking excerpts from a paragraph of mine and peicing together little bits of liberal trash.
Go call the mayor of prov i heard he’s single u bumman!
This is precisely the kind of issue that the voters themselves should decide and not have shoved down their throats by so-called representatives who suddenly decide it’s more important to play partisan politics than it is to actually represent the people who elected them, or by the courts who really aren’t accountable to anyone!
The definition of marriage is such a significant and important social issue and has such extreme implications on law, education, social services, insurance, etc. that the voters should be the ones to make this decision for themselves, not a few too-easily-influenced legislators or jurists.
The only reason most people don’t seem to like that idea very much is because they know they can’t convince the voters to go along with gay ‘marriage.‘ That’s precisely why gay activists are now targeting states where there is no ballot initiative process. They learned from how badly they blew it in Arizona, Florida, and California, so now they’re targeting states where the people have no recourse except to vote out of office the representatives who forced this on them and go through months or even years of amending the state constitution with a newly elected legislature. They’re working on that in Iowa already. People are livid that this is being forced on them.
Both New Hampshire and Rhode Island should have enough respect for the voters to let them make this decision for themselves. I hope you’re listening, Governor Lynch
As always, the gay marriage debate gets abit heated and for every reason not to allow, there is a reason to allow.
First off: Letting the people vote, and hope they do the right thing. I don’t think I want my rights decided by someone that doesn’t even know me. Let’s vote on YOUR marriage…how’s that?
Protecting children: Please, kids today are more tuned into the world then you know. If we are going to protect children, then let’s vote to outlaw divorce, since that doesn’t allow a child to grow up in a home with one mommy and one daddy. Really, think before you use this as an excuse.
As to “teaching children”...keep in mind that schools teach far worse things in society (holocaust, 9-11, etc) than the love of two people.
And how insulting is it to say to a single mom or dad raising a child to say that your kids are better because they have two parents. Decades have proven that kids can grow up in single parent households to be President.
This really is a civil issue, something that the state regulates, not the churches, not anyone’s individual beliefs. We vote people to represent us, and if you don’t like they way they make laws and such, vote them out.
So much hate going on here. It is terrible. Homosexuals are people too! Different strokes for different folks…that’s what makes the world go round. Religion? I can’t imagine what your religion is….with all the HATE you spew? If they want to get married…who the he11 are you to stop them?
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