Poll backs same-sex marriage

Poll backs same-sex marriage

A new poll showing about 60 percent of Australians support same-sex marriage has prompted a new push for changes to the Federal Marriage Act.

The Greens will next week introduce a private member’s bill to alter the Act so it no longer outlaws gay marriage.

Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young said, with the changing community attitude, same-sex marriage deserved to be put back on the parliamentary agenda.

We have to keep raising this as the Achilles heel in the Government’s agenda of equality and keep pushing for real change and rights for everyone, Hanson-Young told Sydney Star Observer.

There’s no reason, when we’ve got poll results that clearly show the majority of Australians support gay marriage, they can continue with their spin that somehow they can’t move forward because they wouldn’t have community support -” it’s clearly wrong.

Commissioned by Australian Marriage Equality (AME), national marriage rights group Equal Love, and supported by Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG), the poll of 1100 Australians showed overwhelming support for same-sex marriage.

AME national convenor Peter Furness said the results were a clear indication the Australian public was more progressive than the Rudd Government on the issue.

The single reason left to the Government to justify opposition to same-sex marriage is that there isn’t support within the community, Furness said.

This poll shows there is support and that it’s now impossible for the Government to justify this excuse.
It scuttles the only rationale put forward by the Rudd Government for opposing equality, namely that a majority of Australians believe marriage should only be between a man and a woman.

Those surveyed were asked whether they agree or disagree same-sex couples should be able to marry in Australia, with 60 percent saying they supported equal marriage rights, 36 percent opposed and 4 percent undecided.

Sixty-eight percent of female respon-dents and 53 percent of male respondents supported same-sex marriage.

In the political spectrum, 82 percent of Greens voters, 64 percent of Labor voters and 50 percent of Coalition voters supported same-sex marriage in Australia.

PFLAG national president Shelley Argent said the poll was proof Australians wanted the children of gay and lesbian couples to be afforded the same respect as children of heterosexual couples.

We want to see the relationships of our gay and lesbian children given the same rights and respect as their straight siblings, she said.

The poll comes out ahead of the ALP’s national conference. Protesters plan to use the conference to push the party on its stance on same-sex marriage and civil unions.

We call on delegates to the conference to reflect the fairness and good sense of ordinary Australians by endorsing equal marriage, Furness said.

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28 responses to “Poll backs same-sex marriage”

  1. I think polls are unfair. It’s bias. Every statistical mathematician should know. Before any drastic decisions are to be made, a compulsory vote should be held in Australia to get real statistics. Legalising same-sex marriage is a huge deal.

    Ed: A vote Anne? I don’t recall seeing str8 marriage put to a vote. And I certainly don’t recall John Howard’s legislative move to ban same-sex marriage put to a vote.

  2. Where are these overwhelming polls? I never get to vote on any of them. I am against changing the legislation to ammend the marriage act. Leave it alone. Gays have equality before the law already – what they really want is to feel accepted by God because deep down they know what they are doing will never be accepted. If they don’t believe in God then why demand changing the definition that is a fundamental basis of the Christian faith and all other major faiths as well. Get out of the closet if you want but please don’t think that that will make it alright. The reason you crave ‘equality’ is because deep in your own psychi you know you are not normal and no amendment to any act will ever change that. It has never been accepted since the beginning of time and never will.

  3. If it is walking down the isle you want, or feeling ‘romantic’ then why don’t you build your own isle and walk down it? It is unbelievable that you want to force churches to accept your way of life just so you can feel ‘romantic’ when it is against everything they believe in. You want Christians to accept your desires and wants yet you have no respect for theirs. You have your equal rights and your gay rights – what else do you want? You can go marry a dog for all I care but leave me my faith and my belief. I do not dream of forcing my views on anyone yet I am labelled, called names and accused of discriminatin just because I believe what I believe yet if I accuse a gay person of anything – I am the culprit!

  4. p.s. having a “civil union” as opposed to “getting married” kinda takes the romance and magic right out of it, dont you think?…

  5. i cant be bothered reading all these comments, so im just gonna say what i think:
    1) gay marriage harms no-one (unless they are in an abusive relationship, which happens in straight relationships too).
    2) if you dont support gay marriage, dont marry someone of the same sex – obviously.
    3) all this talk about marriage being only between a man and a woman is bullshit – if we went by such traditional views, we wouldnt have atheists, technology, abortion & IVF, women in the workforce, etc.
    4) if drunk people can get married on impulse in vegas, and if drug addicts and other irresponsible people can marry and have children, why cant two loving and supportive gay people get married? after all, THEY are preserving the concept of a “sacred” marriage more than the above-mentioned people.
    5) society is changing all around the world, and i think that LGBT couples protesting against discrimination proves that. so i say, they’re human beings, they’re in love, LET THEM GET MARRIED!!
    p.s. i am bisexual, and i hope that later in life i may find someone – man or woman – that i love to the ends of the earth. and if it’s a woman, i want to have the option of marrying her in the same way that i would if i was marrying a man. no bullshit about a “civil union”. because sometimes, its the feeling of walking down the isle (or in my case, dreaming about it) that makes you REALLY feel like you’re getting married :)

  6. According to the ongoing poll on activeopinion.org, more than 60% of australians support or at least not oppose gay marriages. Poll closes in 3 weeks

  7. While I’m glad you aren’t sitting here pressing your views as is a certain other, Keith, I find it interesting that you’ve used the words “…personal preference”.

    Are you trying to say that some people prefer to be discriminated against, intimidated, and called ‘abominations’ or ‘perverts’? Not to mention bashed and killed in some circumstances.

    People can’t help what they are, and homosexual people can’t change their sexuality any more than an aboriginal person can change their skin, or a woman can change her genitalia.

    So why is the government insisting they be denied rights on the basis of that characteristic? I just don’t understand.

  8. My reasons are my business, but I don’t favour same-sex marriage. This is a democracy, so my view may be out-voted, but I don’t think it has anything to do with “progress”. To me it has nothing to do with 1959 or 2009. It is just personal preference.

  9. hey we are year 8 and we are doing project on this subject and we think that same sex marriage should be legal because thay are people just like you and me. we also think that people that like same sex should have the same rights to get married just like straight people

  10. Andrew – the process that James is talking about is known as the “Bradley effect” and has been well documented. It suggests that on issues where voters may have prejudices, support at the ballot box may be significantly than the opinions express in polls.

    Nevertheless, I have four points to make:

    1) The Bradley effect is not absolute: it has not taken place in every case (e.g. the election of Obama, which many people predicted would lose precisely on the Bradley effect)

    2) Where support is at 60%, the Bradley effect is less likely to have a significant effect. It is less likely that a whole 10% of people are misrepresenting their views. Nevertheless, 60% support is still in the “controversial” range. Only once public support exceeds 70% can it be called “overwhelming” (some European countries have these levels of support for same-sex marriage).

    3) Marriage will probably *never* come up to a vote in Australia. Unlike the US, the Australian system does not have provisions for citizen-initiated ballot proposals, and very rarely involves plebiscites or referenda unless it is a constitutional change issue. In that case, a referendum proposal must first be approved by the Parliament. I find it hard to believe that a future Parliament, after passing same-sex marriage, will choose to also put it to a referendum.

    4) As a corollary of point 3, the argument above, while interesting, is not really of relevance. The key is to persuade politicians to vote for it. In this context, public opinion polls matter *more* than true public support, since it is opinion polls which can be used to convince politicians of public support.

  11. Andrew M Potts…

    The “The non-compulsory nature of voting in the States was the factor in California”. Hang on, I though it was those nasty mormons and their fear campaign that they so savagely waged.

    Wait a minute, it was the black people who, having bitterly tasted discrimination themselves, should have sided with us.

    No, it was those macho Latinos who simply couldn’t vote for something like gay marriage.

    But perhaps it was all of those bible bashers? You know, those nutcase churchies who believe in invisible gods?

    What about the large bigot population of California; you know, those who aren’t inner-city hipsters from the “Bay Area” of SF? The ignorant masses?

    Nup! None of the above. The vote was lost purely because of “the non-compulsory nature of voting”. You know, people couldn’t get time off work and couldn’t be bothered wit the “extra hassle” of voting by post.

    Pretty simple really.

  12. James and Snowy, if people are less likely to be open about their prejudices when asked in phone polls then how come in a 2009 Gallop poll of European Muslim attitudes, pollsters were not even able to find one out of five hundred randomly selected British Muslims who was prepared to say they thought homosexuality was morally acceptable? http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2009/may/07/muslims-britain-france-germany-homosexuality

    Galaxy regularly does election polling for major newspapers and their results are rarely far off the mark.

    The non-compulsory nature of voting in the States was the factor in California.

    Americans often have to arrange to get time off work to vote- which means money out of their pockets.

    The alternative is a postal vote- which means the extra hassle of arranging a ballot paper and then dropping it off at the post office.

    Even if you do turn up to vote in a State or Presidential election, there’s nothing requiring you to stay to vote on the often numerous ballot initiatives that are running as well.

    Then there’s the fact it’s a first past the post system which means if you support a party other than the Republicans or Democrats, or are dissolutioned with the big two, there is virtually no point in you voting as when your candidate fails your vote doesn’t continue on to your party of second preference so you actually make it easier for the guy you hate the most to get in. For this reason, few recent American presidents have been elected by a majority of eligible voters in the United States- many third world countries have higher voter turnouts.

  13. Most conserives seem to want a vote on gay marriage now before more people (IE hetro population) start accepting gay marriage, they know that more and more people everyday are becoming more open to the idea of gay marriage. I bet in a few years if gay marriage is not legalised that instead of consertives asking for a vote on gay marriage they will actually be against a vote on gay marriage and it will be us gays wanting a vote on gay marriage. The polls might claim that the general population is open to gay marriage but im not yet convinced and it would be a huge error for gay advocates to lobby for a vote on gay marriage just now, just look at what happened in Califorina.

  14. A public vote on the basic civil rights of a minority group is wrong! California let its people down.

    Australia is smarter than that. Discrimination is discrimantion and in no circumstance should it be acceptable yet alone legalised.

    Fact: – Same sex marriage will be legalised in Australia. When? That is uncertain. What is certain is that it will occur when the majority let go of any ignorance and conseqent fear they hold in their hearts and just accept that love is love. Simple.

    Government will reflect the majority. I have faith that the majority already recognise that love is love. Time will tell.

  15. Straights have always had a monopoly on the word ‘marriage’. I still don’t understand why we’re not granted basic human rights in whom we love lega and want to be legally, responsible adults?

  16. I think what James is saying is that:

    In a poll – in spite of polls being “anonymous”, most people will tend to provide support for same sex marriage because they don’t want to come across as bigots.

    When true anonymous voting occurs, the real opinions of people come out.

    So if you asked how people felt about, say, Islam, you’ll get a high support in response, but in an isolated, anonymous voting situation, a fairer or more true consensus is achieved. Such is human behaviour

  17. Chris ( darlinghurst)- James gets off on the sound of one hand clapping – his own!

  18. Yes James- and my point is that 60% is pretty damn conclusive compared to 51%.

    I agree that same-sex marriage would pass if it was put to the voters, but that’s not how we do things in Australia.

    Here we elect representatives who we hope are representative of our views and will act as a sort of jury of the people on contentious issues. Unfortunately the party system subverts that intention.

    Which of your rights would you like to be voted on?

  19. Andrew – my point is that polls almost always differ actual results.

    If there’s a majority of Australians that “back same-sex marriage” then put it to the voters.

    Voting may not be compuslory in the US, but all this does is weed out the “unsure” or “can’t be bothered” element. Therefore only those who really care (one way or another) will bother voting.

    Having said that, voting in Australia is not compuslory either, in practice. What is compulsory is having your named marked off. What you do with your voting papers, and what you write on them after that, is completely up to you.

  20. James, Okay I get the point that your against same-sex marriage, and Im sure most regular vistors to this site get your point as well. If your really that against it, you should be writting to the government with your views rather than every few weeks coming on here venting your anti-gay marriage views, I mean what are you seriouly going to achieve by venting your hetrosexual views on a GLBT interest website.

  21. We call on delegates to the conference to reflect the fairness and good sense of ordinary Australians by endorsing equal marriage, Furness said.

    I also ask the delegates to the ALP’s National Conference to endorse a move to change Australian law to legalise same sex marriage.

  22. James- 51% is an extremely narrow margin in any poll- see my comments above about margins of error and the non-compulsory nature of American voting.

  23. Chris – “According to the Field Poll, support for same-sex marriage in California reached a majority for the first time in 2008, with 51 percent in support, 42 percent opposed, and 7 percent with no opinion.”

    There was not 51% support in the vote.

  24. My best mate is a gay man and I fully support him all the way and I a typical heterosexual bloke. We both have a lot in common and love doing the same exact things, the only difference is, I like women – he likes men. I 100 percent refuse to get married – until my best mate has that right!!!!!!

    I recently did some research and found why same marriage should be legal include:
    * Universal recognition of their relationships;
    * Good for the economy;
    * Increases life expandancy and provides happyiness and furfillment;
    * Provides jobs to hotel staff, honeymoon vacations, cleaners, celebrants, people buy more gifts, more cake-makers and decorators, etc, etc, etc;
    * Good for Tourism and increases travel;
    * Promotes longer-term monogamous relationships;
    * Slows down the HIV/STD rate;
    * Show that Australia is not a bigoted country;
    * Gay men, lesbians and their partners are human beings and are just as excellent as their heterosexual peers;
    * Gays and lesbians pay their fair share in heavy taxes and deserve FULL equality and recognition under the laws and statutes;
    * Love is love in the end, the sky will not fall – IT HARMS NO ONE!!!!

    What are the disadvantages? – THERE ARE NONE!!!!

    SSMs are legal in Canada, Netherlands, Norway, Nepal, Belgium, South Africa, Spain, Sweden (love Swedish women). Certain states in the US (six of them) including Iowa, Connecticut, Massacussetts, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine (5/6 New England states).

    Kevin Rudd stop being stuck in 1959 values and move to 2009 values dude!!!!

  25. Thast garbage James and you know it. The polls in California in the last 2 months before the vote showed support for marriage was well behind – not 20 points in front like this poll shows!

    Besides who cares as the issue doesnt need to be voted on here. It will simply be a case of the government changing the Marriage Act. With poll results like this that wont be too far away either!

  26. James, the difference between the situation in California and Australia is enormous- firstly, Australians are supporting same-sex marriage at higher rates than California so it beats any margin of error test. Secondly, voting in America is non-compulsory, meaning those who are disenchanted or too busy don’t bother to vote.