On Thursday, the California Supreme Court ruled that domestic partnerships were not an acceptable alternative to marriage and that California would need to allow gay marriages. The decision overturned a previous voter approved ban on gay marriage.
Groups opposed to gay marriage indicated that they had enough votes to put the issue of a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage on the November ballot.
In a poll done immediately following the announcement, SurveyUSA found some interesting perspectives amongst California Voters.
When asked the question:
The California Supreme Court has struck down the ban on gay marriage in California. Do you agree? Or disagree with the court’s ruling?
the response was nearly evenly split between those who agreed with the decision and those who disagreed.
However, when asked:
Do you support? Or do you oppose amending the state constitution to define marriage as being between one man and one woman?
a majority, 52% said that they supported the amendment. 36% said they opposed the amendment and 12% were still unsure.
What I found particularly interesting was the response split on age. Looking at a split of over or under 50 years old, those supporting, opposing and unsure, nearly mirrored the overall population. Another split that took 18-34 year olds found that even this age group’s response looked similar to the overall population. In fact, the only split that looked different, and slightly so with an error margin of 4.5%, were those 65+ where 62% approved of the amendment, 25% opposed and 13% were undecided.
Each generation is concerned that the one following them doesn’t share their values and will somehow dismantle what was held dear. At least on this issue, it looks like the generations are pretty well aligned. It will be interesting to watch how this plays out in California.
