On the one hand: Heh heh heh heh...
Gay Marriage Poll Gets Annulled by Daniel Terdiman, Wired News, 02:00 AM Jan. 22, 2004 PT: When the American Family Association posted an online poll last month asking its constituents their position on gay marriage, it thought it was engaging in a straightforward exercise. The conservative organization supports a constitutional amendment defining marriage as strictly between a man and a woman, and it planned to forward to Congress the results of the poll, which it expected would support its position, as evidence of Americans' opposition to gay marriage.
But the AFA never counted on the power of the Internet. And once the URL to the poll escaped its intended audience, everything went haywire. As of Jan. 19, 60 percent of respondents -- more than 508,000 voters -- said, "I favor legalization of homosexual marriage." With an additional 7.89 percent -- or 66,732 voters -- replying, "I favor a 'civil union' with the full benefits of marriage except for the name," the AFA's chosen position, "I oppose legalization of homosexual marriage and 'civil unions,'" was being defeated by a 2-1 ratio. "We're very concerned that the traditional state of marriage is under threat in our country by homosexual activists," said AFA representative Buddy Smith. "It just so happens that homosexual activist groups around the country got a hold of the poll -- it was forwarded to them -- and they decided to have a little fun, and turn their organizations around the country (onto) the poll to try to cause it to represent something other than what we wanted it to. And so far, they succeeded with that."
Yes. Yes we did. Heh heh heh heh ...
On the other hand: entering the high-spin zone...
Conservative group quietly drops plans for poll (PlanetOut.com): The conservative American Family Association (AFA) said it will not take the results of its marriage poll to Capitol Hill after a majority of respondents favored same-sex marriage, according to a Thursday report in Wired News. [...] Matt Foreman, the Executive Director of the National Gay and Lesbian Taskforce was dumbfounded. "The abject hypocrisy of these people never ceases to amaze me," he exclaimed. "They constantly manipulate facts, and when things don't work out as they want, they run to mama and whine."
On Jan. 6, the Gay.com/PlanetOut.com Network discussed the AFA poll with expert Bob Witeck, who said that since it was not a scientific survey, its results could not be considered meaningful data. According to Witeck, legitimate polls show support for gay marriage somewhere between 40 to 50 percent -- and growing.
You know, I'm pretty sure that most polls feature the American public saying, in essence, "Gay marriage? EW! ... er, no, wait, maybe I should just say that I'm not sure it's a good idea."
Same-Sex Marriage (ABCNews.com, Jan. 21, 2004): Most Americans agree with President Bush's opposition to same-sex marriage — but most also oppose amending the U.S. Constitution to ban it, saying instead that it should be a matter for the individual states to decide. [...] In this ABCNEWS/Washington Post survey, 38 percent of Americans favor amending the U.S. Constitution to make it illegal for homosexual couples to marry, but 58 percent say, instead, that each state should make its own laws on gay marriage. That's not an endorsement of same-sex marriages — indeed most, 55 percent, say such marriages should be illegal. Instead it suggests a public judgment that the issue doesn't merit pre-empting the states and amending the U.S. Constitution. Compared to same-sex marriage, this poll finds a closer division in public views on gay civil unions — 51 percent opposed, but 46 percent in favor.
The numbers have been trending downward ever since people suddenly realized that it could actually happen. (It also doesn't strike me as abject hypocrisy to state the facts, which are pretty much as the AFA guy stated -- depending on your definition of "homosexual activist group", since it seemed to be forwarded all over the internet by people who wouldn't go near an "activist group" if you paid them and aren't actually homosexual, but were happy to stick it to the AFA. However, it is still whining.)
Posted by iain at January 23, 2004 07:55 PM
