Q poll split on marriage

The Daily Politics - NY Daily News


Q Poll: Racial Divide Over Gay Marriage
May 14, 2009

Today's Q poll finds voters are evenly split - 46-46 - on whether same-sex marriage should be legalized in New York, with African Americans more opposed than whites.

Public opinion has clearly moved on this topic.

An April 2007 Q poll showed voters overwhelmingly opposed to gay marriage (55-37). The numbers for civil unions are considerably stronger, (65-27), but that's not an option under consideration in Albany at the moment.

Today, black voters oppose marriage for same-sex couples 35-57, while whites narrowly favor it 47-45. Hispanics are split, 45-48. (The margin of error for the poll of 2,828 registered voters is +/- 1.8 percent).

New Yorkers who attend religious services at least once a week are very much anti (66-26), and women are more open to the idea (49-42 in favor) than men (51-42 opposed).

Interestingly, the majority of voters aren't buying the argument that letting same-sex couples marry somehow poses a threat to traditional heterosexual marriage (63-32 disagree with that line of reasoning). That holds true among all demographics with the exception of Republicans, who are split 48-48.

Fifty-five percent of New Yorkers agree with Gov. David Paterson's claim that ending discrimination against gay men and women is as important as as the civil rights movement of the 1960s. Again, this holds true with everyone except Republicans (50-44 disagree).

However, the question of whether not allowing same-sex couples to marry is discrimination is a little trickier. Overall, voters say it is (49-46), but they are again split along racial lines on this one (49-47 in the affirmative for whites; 48-44 in the negative for blacks).

Good news for marriage advocates: The younger New Yorkers are, the more likely they are to think same-sex marriage should be legalized (the 34 and younger demographic is in favor, 61-33; while those 55 and older are opposed, 37-55).

"The age breakdown suggests that, if same-sex marriage proponents will wait, eventually they'll win," said Q pollster Mickey Carroll.

Advocates have made it clear, however, that they're not inclined to wait.

This Q poll was conducted May 5-11, with calls ending one day before the Assembly passed the governor's gay marriage program bill for the second time since 2007, this time widening the margin to 89-52.
Tags:
Albany , Assembly , David Paterson , Polls , Same-Sex Marriage , Senate
By Elizabeth Benjamin on May 14, 2009 7:16 AM |