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Loading ...Poll: Majority of RI voters favor gay marriage law
05.28.2009 8:54am EDT
(Providence, R.I.) A survey released Wednesday shows that more than half of Rhode Island voters favor a law allowing gay 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 gay marriage law.“Even if they’re not hearing constantly from constituents or people they work with about what they feel about marriage equality, it clearly gives the decision-makers something to look at when supporting marriage equality,” said Kathy Kushnir, executive director of Marriage Equality Rhode Island.
While 77 percent of Democrats polled said they would support gay marriage, only 28 percent of Republicans shared that view.
Results also showed younger voters more heavily favored gay 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.
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 gay 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 gay 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 gay marriage have been introduced in the Statehouse 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 gay 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, 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 gay marriage: Massachusetts, Connecticut, Vermont and Maine. New Hampshire lawmakers are working to pass a gay marriage bill that will be signed by the governor.
I am a lifelong resident of Rhode Island, a beautiful and quirky little state that is unfortunately burdened with an incredibly corrupt political system. There are only 3 people in the whole state stopping marriage equality from happening: the governor, the Senate president, and the House speaker, and the first two are leaving in 2011.
I am glad to see these results as I have always known Rhode Island to be a liberal and tolerant state. Although Catholics are the largest religious group (although they no longer make up more than 50% as the non-religious group has grown), it has been my experience that most Catholics here do not see the Catholic Church as an authority on morality, due to its scandals with molestation and subsequent cover-ups.
The state is entirely surrounded by the marriage equality states of Connecticut and Massachusetts. And because of its small size, crossing the border is a very common experience for most Rhode Islanders, many of whom have jobs, friends, and family in neighboring states. We’ve seen that the sky hasn’t fallen and people have shifted their beliefs accordingly.
The equality day is coming for RI. I sense it will speed up once antigay gov Carcieri leaves due to term limits. He is very anti marriage equality.
RI will likely be the last New England state to get equality but it get it by 2012.
It is encouraging to read that NH lawmakeers are working on a marriage equality bill that will one day be signed by the NH governor.
My main concern it that we need to see states with larger land masses and bigger populations get marriage equality. That is why I want especially to see NY State have it, even though I am anxious for even smaller states like New Jersey to come through.
I see a focus from EQCA to work on restoring marriage equality by 2010. They put out a poll to see whether they should work toward 2010 or 20112. I suggested 2010 as couples have waited long enough and also once a certain momentum has been reached, it is very important to not lessen that momentum. Constant forward action and movement must be maintained and this issue needs to stay in the public eye to educate and build support for bringing this back to the voters soon and not years from now.
As many of us don’t have the luxury of more time wasted out of our lives. We need to work hard to restore and to bring equality about.
Obama will not bring equality.
Leadership will come from those working in the trenches in the indivdual states. Marriage equality will be won state by state, not in the Obama White House.
This is issue to a perennial issue I see in Utah regarding gay rights. The thing is, in state legislatures, the elected official representing a district is seldom going to broadly represent it. Often they were elected instead of another candidate they ran against, meaning that in the best of theories, they represent only that proportion of their districts who voted for them. Now, if this elected official tends at a very conservative end of the spectrum (often extreme in what I’ve observed in Utah), it doesn’t matter if, say, most of the people overall support certain gay rights principles – they’re going to be soundly defeated in legislature, just like what happened to Utah’s Common Ground Initiative even when a majority of Utahns supported those rights in theory. Sometimes, the results can be further skewed if a state has allowed its legislative districts to be gerrymandered, as happened in Texas.
If things are in any way similar in Rhode Island, it means that it’s no surprise if a majority of its voters support gay marriage while it still never passes legislative approval. From what I understand, Rhode Islanders tend to be good Catholics who tend to elect “good Catholics” that represent an “ideal” end of the spectrum. So when they don’t approve gay marriage, it’s no surprise whatsoever. A significant portion of the population is ideologically unrepresented by their elected officials, often even if those people actually voted for them.
Should we send this article to the California Supreme Court, and say even the smallest states are doing more than one of the largest states, about equality.
That’s surprising, since Rhode Island is a heavily Catholic state.
Bill – You’re right in all you said. The majority of people in Rhode Island are definitely ready as well as supportive of Same Sex Marriage. The Church and those few politicians you mentioned are the only ones blocking it. Because of the hard hit economy in Rhode Island, if the Rhode Island Chamber of Commerce were smart, they would also make the state much more inviting to gay and lesbian couples that have the money to spend. I know for the past few years in downtown Newport during the summer months, Sunday night through Thursday night the majority of restaurants and their high priced boutiques did less than average in business. If the city of Newport, RI. were gay friendly and passed Same Sex Marriage you’d see a major gay tourist pick up that would bring in revenue for these already hard hit struggling businesses. Right now the only place we can go are places in Providence and unfortunately Providence is not a major city for summer tourists. Newport being one of New Englands most popular summer resorts use to have, years ago, one gay bar and one lesbian bar, now there are none. Meanwhile Newport offers their tourists many night clubs but unfortunately only for straight tourists to go to, to relax, enjoy a cocktail, socialize and yes even dance, foolishly the city eliminated their gay clientele from enjoying the same enjoyments. It’s just a matter of time before Same Sex Marriage becomes part of Rhode Island’s history. The sooner the better.
Sounds pretty good. Let’s keep up the momentum.
I also saw in another news article on this poll that 87 (EIGHTY-SEVEN!!) percent of RI voters age 18-29 support same-sex marriage. That is truly mind-boggling. If the anti-gay forces really think they’re going to win this one, they are quite naive.
Oops sorry. That was already mentioned in the article on this site.
Zac,
You said “Newport got rid of its one gay bar and one lesbian bar” WELL, If we want equality, then maybe we should not go as far as having “seperate” bars, pubs, meet up places….
I am not at all saying get rid or LGBT clubs, etc, but if we want the mainstream, straights to accept us, well lets go directly where they are and show them we can drink, hang out, dance, chit chat, enjoy life, etc. just like they do. I think some of the best “hetero” recruits I got to see our side has been over a couple of cocktails, conversation and relaxing time.
I have friends that were going to Sweden and they asked at the hotel front desk, “Where are the Gay bars?” and the hotel clerks said, “we don’t have seperate bars here” everyone gets along and hangs out same places.
So we might need to look at some places that are “gay friendly” for most part and show them we can be in same resort towns and all have a good time.
And no I am not Naive or live in LaLa land, just making suggestions. Go to Newport “Straight” bars, etc and Let them know you are out!
Lets get a group of LGBT and pick a night to all meet up!
It quite disgusts me to have to lower my standards to “dine” around and or with breeders. YEEEEECK! They have their establishments and we have ours! Keep it that way!
ya shawn, keep it that way Yeeck!
why dont you quit playing like you are gay and go back to the redneck american taliban site and be an idiot fit in there!
you obviously misunderstood what i was saying.
if you have no “gay bars” or gay establishments in your home town then go work your way into the straight one. i’d rather hang out with party people, then be in a Religious Taliban Church with the hating heros!
Ok.. All persons who get married must get their license at a court house regardless of their religious affiliation. All these religious people keep saying that same-sex marriage is against God’s law. Well let’s see, not everyone who gets married is a Christian or even believes in God. So their statements are flawed. But given the benefit, the court house is a government entity, and I know in the Bible, Jesus states, “Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” Granted it was pertaining to taxes and tithing, but is also applies here. Since licenses are of the govenment, religion has no say as to who may or may not receive one. One may object to it but their religious conviction cannot deny those who wish to obtain a license from acquiring one.
Some of us would just like there to be a marriage law designed by the state. The religious folk can have their marriage laws “designed by God”. And if Catholic Canada and Spain can have gay marriage, then surely little Rhode Island can have it also.