Poll: Illinoisans oppose marriage amendment
Poll: Illinoisans oppose marriage amendment
By Gary Barlow
Copyright by The Chicago Free Press
Gay and lesbian advocates fighting a right-wing group’s attempt to pass an anti-gay marriage constitutional amendment in Illinois got good news last week from a poll showing that voters in the Land of Lincoln oppose such an amendment.
In the poll, conducted June 1-3 by the Glengariff Group, 50 percent of Illinois voters opposed amending the state’s constitution to ban gay and lesbian marriage, with 40 percent favoring a ban. Opposition was strongest in suburban Cook County and Chicago.
The poll found that the proposed constitutional amendment banning gay and lesbian marriage drew strong support only in Southern Illinois, with voters there backing it by a 61-30 percent margin. It was also favored by a 45-40 percent margin in Western and Northwestern Illinois. Voters opposed the amendment by a 46-42 percent margin in Central Illinois and by a 48-40 percent margin in Chicago’s collar counties.
The anti-gay Illinois Family Institute submitted petitions with more than 340,000 signatures to state election officials in an effort to get a referendum on the November election ballot. The referendum would be advisory only, urging Illinois legislators, if it passed, to OK a constitutional amendment banning gay and lesbian marriage. Illinois law already stipulates that marriage is reserved for heterosexual couples.
“Experience with state referendums elsewhere indicates this type of ballot proposal needs to be in the 60-percent range as it begins the campaign if it hopes to be successful,” said Glengariff president Richard Czuba.
The referendum’s chances of getting on the ballot appear to be slim. State law requires 283,111 valid voter signatures to get a referendum on the ballot. Equality Illinois formed the Fair Illinois Committee with other groups, including the Gay Liberation Network, Lambda Legal, the American Civil Liberties Union, and Parents, Family and Friends of Lesbians and Gays, to scrutinize the IFI petitions and disqualify enough of them to keep the referendum off the ballot.
Garcia said volunteers have been going over the petitions signature by signature in Chicago, Cook County, Champaign-Urbana and in Macon, Lake and DuPage counties. Volunteers report that they’ve found reasons to disqualify large numbers of signatures, mostly because of petition error or because the signers aren’t registered to vote or don’t list information that matches voter registration records.
“Clearly, we’ve got enough signatures to knock it off,” said Equality Illinois political director Rick Garcia.
Fair Illinois expects to submit its petition challenges early next week.
The poll also found that just 27 percent of Illinois voters support a proposed federal constitutional amendment outlawing gay and lesbian marriage.
While voters opposed gay marriage—51 percent against, 29 percent in favor—they expressed support by a surprisingly wide 50-36-percent margin for legalizing civil unions for gay and lesbian couples in Illinois. Majorities also favored extending specific marital rights—hospital visitation, inheritance, health benefits, joint tax return and adoption rights—to gay and lesbian couples.
By Gary Barlow
Copyright by The Chicago Free Press
Gay and lesbian advocates fighting a right-wing group’s attempt to pass an anti-gay marriage constitutional amendment in Illinois got good news last week from a poll showing that voters in the Land of Lincoln oppose such an amendment.
In the poll, conducted June 1-3 by the Glengariff Group, 50 percent of Illinois voters opposed amending the state’s constitution to ban gay and lesbian marriage, with 40 percent favoring a ban. Opposition was strongest in suburban Cook County and Chicago.
The poll found that the proposed constitutional amendment banning gay and lesbian marriage drew strong support only in Southern Illinois, with voters there backing it by a 61-30 percent margin. It was also favored by a 45-40 percent margin in Western and Northwestern Illinois. Voters opposed the amendment by a 46-42 percent margin in Central Illinois and by a 48-40 percent margin in Chicago’s collar counties.
The anti-gay Illinois Family Institute submitted petitions with more than 340,000 signatures to state election officials in an effort to get a referendum on the November election ballot. The referendum would be advisory only, urging Illinois legislators, if it passed, to OK a constitutional amendment banning gay and lesbian marriage. Illinois law already stipulates that marriage is reserved for heterosexual couples.
“Experience with state referendums elsewhere indicates this type of ballot proposal needs to be in the 60-percent range as it begins the campaign if it hopes to be successful,” said Glengariff president Richard Czuba.
The referendum’s chances of getting on the ballot appear to be slim. State law requires 283,111 valid voter signatures to get a referendum on the ballot. Equality Illinois formed the Fair Illinois Committee with other groups, including the Gay Liberation Network, Lambda Legal, the American Civil Liberties Union, and Parents, Family and Friends of Lesbians and Gays, to scrutinize the IFI petitions and disqualify enough of them to keep the referendum off the ballot.
Garcia said volunteers have been going over the petitions signature by signature in Chicago, Cook County, Champaign-Urbana and in Macon, Lake and DuPage counties. Volunteers report that they’ve found reasons to disqualify large numbers of signatures, mostly because of petition error or because the signers aren’t registered to vote or don’t list information that matches voter registration records.
“Clearly, we’ve got enough signatures to knock it off,” said Equality Illinois political director Rick Garcia.
Fair Illinois expects to submit its petition challenges early next week.
The poll also found that just 27 percent of Illinois voters support a proposed federal constitutional amendment outlawing gay and lesbian marriage.
While voters opposed gay marriage—51 percent against, 29 percent in favor—they expressed support by a surprisingly wide 50-36-percent margin for legalizing civil unions for gay and lesbian couples in Illinois. Majorities also favored extending specific marital rights—hospital visitation, inheritance, health benefits, joint tax return and adoption rights—to gay and lesbian couples.
posted by Carlos T Mock at 1:20 PM
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