I'm tired of the poll dancing headlines that claim that most people support marriage neutering, especially when you analyze the actual poll and find out that it isn't true. So here is the poll I would like to see, with questions posed in this order. This one is written for California, but it could be changed for other states. It might be helpful to send some or all of this poll to someone you know. These are "yes" or "no" questions.
1. Are you are aware that adults, regardless of sexual orientation, are allowed to live together without being married or being domestic partners?
2. Are you aware that adults, regardless of sexual orientation, are allowed to have commitment or marriage ceremonies regardless of whether or not they get a license from the state?
3. Are you aware that California's Domestic Partnership law allows same-sex couples to register as Domestic Partners?
4. Are you aware that California law treats Domestic Partners as spouses, as if they were married?
5. Do you believe that there is a difference between men and women? (If the answer is "no", ask respondent if they have dated both men and women, and then ask the question #5 again.)
6. Do you believe that the pairing of a man and a woman is different than the pairing of two men or two women? (If the answer is "no", ask respondent if any other kind of relationship other than the pairing of a man and woman can naturally produce children, and then ask question #6 again.)
7. Are you aware that the Supreme Court held in Baker v. Nelson that a state law denying same-sex couples a marriage license does not violate the U.S. Constitution?
[Much more after the jump.]
8. Are you aware that in every state where the voters have voted on the issue, they have voted for the bride+groom requirement in state marriage licensing?
9. Are you aware that thirty of the fifty states have the bride+groom requirement as part of their constitution, ten more have it as part of their law (but not as part of the constitution), and only five of the ten other states currently issue marriage licenses to brideless or groomless couples, primarily because of a state court order?
10. a) Given that all laws treat different behaviors and kinds of associations differently, do you think it is okay for the law distinguish between relationships that unite a bride and a groom and other kinds of relationships? b) Are you aware that it would be impossible for the law to do so if the legal definition of marriage is changed to any two people instead of a man and a woman?
11. a) Do you believe that, all other things being equal, adoption agencies should be able to give preference to placing children with a married man and woman, giving the child both a mother and a father, over placing that child with two men or two women? b) Are you aware that it would be difficult or nearly impossible for an adoption agency to do so if the legal definition of marriage is changed to any two people instead of a man and a woman?
12. a) Do you believe that public schools should be able teach children that there is a difference between homosexual sodomy and heterosexual intercourse, and a difference between a brideless or groomless relationship and a marriage? b) Are you aware that it would be difficult or nearly impossible for a public school to teach there is a difference if the legal definition of marriage is changed to any two people instead of a man and a woman?
13. Are you aware that none of the great moral thinkers or civil rights activists in history, all the way up through Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., and none of the Founding Fathers or Presidents, all the way up through President Obama, ever claimed there was a right for a brideless or groomless couple to be recognized as a marriage?
14. Do you personally believe that marriage unites a bride and a groom?
15. Given that state marriage licenses are issued on your behalf, isn't it better that Californians be allowed keep the bride+groom requirement for such licensing, which is how the people of California have twice voted, rather than having a federal court impose a new definition of marriage on them?
Is the wording of the poll biased? No more biased than some of the others.
I'm sure I could think of some questions I'd like to add, but some of your co-bloggers get upset if I raise those questions.
ReplyDeleteRegarding 12: Saying that some families have a mom and a dad while other families have two dads is not the same as saying that there is no difference between the sexual practices of heterosexuals and the sexual practices of homosexuals.
Schools can talk about marriage without talking about the sexual practices of married couples.
Just like school teachers can talk about their U.S. Senators without having to draw a distinction between the one that admitted to using the services of prostitutes and one that hasn't yet admitted to using the services of prostitutes.
Peter if you intended to answer the questions in #12, well, you didn't. There is no sexual basis for a special status for SSM, at law. Yet homosexuality is clearly the emphasis of SSMers such as yourself; given that, the questions stand unanswered in your comment.
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