A majority of Americans oppose amending the U.S.
Constitution to deny marriage rights to same-sex couples, according to a
new ABCNEWS/Washington Post poll. This news comes on the heels of
President Bush's State of the Union address, in which he came
dangerously close to endorsing a constitutional amendment.
"Americans understand that in our history the Constitution has
been only been amended to expand our rights and freedoms, not to deny
basic protections and responsibilities," said Cheryl Jacques, president
of the Human Rights Campaign. "The Constitution should never be used to
deny fundamental rights like the ability to visit a partner in the
hospital, or the protection of Social Security survivor benefits, and
the American people know that."
In Tuesday night's speech the president said, "If judges insist
on forcing their arbitrary will upon the people, the only alternative
left to the people would be the constitutional process."
"We remind the president that Americans are definitively opposed
to using our nation's most cherished document to discriminate against
any American," said Jacques. "Furthermore, Americans are concerned about
issues like the economy and health care and national security. The
president should focus on uniting the country rather than dividing us."
The poll reports only 38 percent of Americans favor a
constitutional ban on marriage rights for gays and lesbians, while 58
percent believe the matter should be left up to the states. Majorities
of Americans are opposed to the amendment in all regions of the country
as well.
More than half of Americans – 56 percent – also feel that it
should not be the role of the federal government to promote marriage
between men and women according to the poll. In addition, 52 percent of
Republicans also oppose an amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
"Equality is not a partisan issue and it should come as no
surprise that a majority of Republicans oppose this amendment," said
Jacques. "Many leading conservatives have spoken out against the Federal
Marriage Amendment because it takes family law policy away from the
states and allows the federal government to make very personal choices
for us."
Many conservative leaders and pundits, including former
Republican Sen. Alan Simpson, David Horowitz, William Safire, and even
former Rep. Bob Barr, who wrote the Defense of Marriage Act, have all
expressed strong opposition to amending the constitution calling it
"reckless" and "divisive."
The finding that Americans are opposed to a constitutional
amendment banning marriage rights for gay and lesbian couples echoes
findings from other recent polls. Two polls in October and November by
the Annenberg Public Policy Center found 51 percent opposition to the
amendment.
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