Left Side of the Aisle #62 - Part 1

Good news: Pro-same-sex marriage leads in WA poll

I've been talking recently about, well, not a continuing stream but at least a continuing trickle of good news on the issue of same-sex marriage. One part of that was that the state of Washington had passed a law allowing for same-sex marriage. However, implementation of the law has been delayed because opponents got enough signatures to put the measure on the November ballot. The record on such ballot measures is not good, as a combination of bigotry, fear-mongering, and often outright lies by opponents about the effects of such laws has carried the day for the reactionaries.

So it's a bit of good news to learn that according to the most recent poll by Public Policy Polling, 51% of Washington voters believe same-sex marriage should be legal, compared with 42% who believe it should be illegal. While that's not an overwhelming lead, it is a hopeful one.

Here's something even more significant for the longer term: The same poll showed that a whopping 77% of voters said same-sex couples should have legal recognition: 47% say they should be allowed to marry and an additional 30% say they should be able to form civil unions. Only 21% opposed any form of legal recognition.

A few years ago, the bigots were sneering that same-sex marriage had only been "imposed" by "unelected judges" and no legislature had ever approved it. Well, now several have and so they've fallen back to the position that same-sex marriage has never been approved in a referendum. But this year Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, and of course Washington are poised to do precisely that, as all four states have referendums about same-sex marriage and the pro-marriage side is leading in all four states, in some cases by substantial margins. I wonder what the reactionaries' fallback will be then.

Sources:
http://2012.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/06/washington-gay-marriage-referendum-poll-mckenna-inslee.php?ref=fpnewsfeed
http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entries/maine-poll-king-strong-favorite-in-senate-race
http://www.publicpolicypolling.com/pdf/2011/MarylandPollingMemo.pdf
http://2012.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/06/minnesota-gay-marriage-amendment-poll-losing-support.php