The L.A. Times did a poll on the proposed California constitutional amendment barring same-sex marriage. Right now the people who support the amendment are leading, 54%-37%. Boo. But apparently, “ballot measures on controversial topics often lose support during the course of a campaign,” according to the article.
One interesting fact:
[T]he poll found that views on gay marriage were greatly influenced by personal connections. Of those who said they knew a friend, a family member or a co-worker who was gay, nearly half approved of the court’s ruling — more than twice the proportion among those who said they were not acquainted with a gay person.
The divide was as stark when it came to the proposed constitutional amendment: 70% of voters who said they did not know a gay person would vote for it, a position taken by just 49% of voters who said they knew a gay person.
If you’re a closeted Californian, please come out to your families, friends, and co-workers between now and November. Your fellow gays need you.
It’s not even about being closeted. We need to all adopt the Ellen Strategy. Forget the crazy wingnuts who think gay marriage is going to lead to the collapse of civilization and man-on-dog-on-parrot polygamy. Go to average, reasonable people like John McCain and just say, “Hi, here I am, here’s my fiance, we’ve been together X years and we are really looking forward to getting married, and we need your support.”
In Oregon, where same-sex marriage is prohibited by the state constitution, I’m still on the so-called Andy Strategy: “Hi, I’m Andy. I live alone with my two cats. Would you like to…no! no, don’t run away…! Shoot.”
Don’t forget: the amendment only has to drop 5 points to fail. I think there are good reason to be hopeful that can happen.
http://johnaugust.tumblr.com/post/35835686/the-numbers-on-californias-gay-marriage