[1]NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)–Nearly six in 10 registered voters favor a constitutional amendment banning same-sex “marriage,” a new FOX News poll shows.
By a 58-34 percent margin, voters said they favor a constitutional amendment defining marriage as solely between a man and a woman. The poll of 900 registered voters was conducted Aug. 12-13 by Opinion Dynamics Corporation.
The poll reflects the findings of other polls this summer that have showed a backlash on homosexual issues. In fact, when comparing all national surveys, the FOX News poll has the highest percentage yet in favor of a constitutional amendment.
An Associated Press poll showed that 54 percent of adults favored an amendment. A CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll had 50 percent in favor of it, a Wirthlin Worldwide poll showed 57 percent supportive.
The FOX News poll surveyed registered voters while the other polls simply questioned adults. If the results are correct, the FOX News poll could show that voters are more conservative on homosexual issues than the general population.
In other results, the FOX News poll found that 62 percent of voters opposed same-sex “marriage,” 26 percent supported it. When the same question was asked in 1996, the margin was 65-22.
[2]Fifty-six percent of voters opposed allowing homosexuals to serve openly as priests, ministers or rabbis, while 33 percent supported it.
But on two other issues voters were considerably more accepting of homosexuals. By a 64-25 margin voters said that homosexuals should be allowed to serve openly in the military. Also, by a 54-34 margin voters said organizations that have adults working alone with children — such as schools and the Boy Scouts — should not screen out homosexuals.
Perhaps more alarming for social conservatives, the poll found a continuing generational divide on homosexual issues. A plurality of young adults ages 18-34, 48 percent, favored same-sex “marriage.” Also, 50 percent of that group opposed a constitutional amendment.
Seventy-seven percent of young adults said that homosexuals should be allowed to serve openly in the military, and 70 percent of the same group said that homosexuals should not be screened out of organizations where adults work alone with children.
However, when asked if homosexuals should be allowed to serve openly as priests, ministers or rabbis, 52 percent of young adults said they should not, 41 percent said they should.
–30–