American Views on Gay Marriage After Supreme Ct. Decisions

Pew Research Center, ABC News, USA Today, Reuters Survey Americans

Highlights of the Polls’ Findings

Following the June 26, 2013 Supreme Court decisions that struck down Prop 8, the California law that banned gay marriage, and a key provision of the Defense of Marriage Act that barred the federal government from providing benefits to same-sex spouses, Americans were polled about those landmark

cases. All the polls: Reuters, USA Today, Pew Research Center, ABC News/Washington Post Poll found that the majority of Americans still support same-sex marriage.  Here are the highlights:

Reuters Findings

Four hundred and ten people were polled were asked separate questions about each ruling on June 26, 2013 (the day of the ruling) and on June 28, 2013. Here are the finings:

  • A majority of Americans are either in favor of same-sex marriage or had no opinion.
  • Forty-three percent agreed or strongly agreed with the court’s handling of a case concerning DOMA.
  • Forty-one percent agreed or strongly agreed with the court’s handling of the Prop 8 case.
  • Twenty-five percent of those surveyed strongly opposed DOMA and Prop 8 decisions. About a quarter of respondents were either unfamiliar with the decisions or had no opinion.

USA Today Poll Survey

Conducted by Princeton Survey Research Associates International June 27-30, 2013, respondents were asked “Do you think marriages between same-sex couples should or should not be recognized by the law as valid, with the same rights as traditional marriages?”

  • Fifty-five percent should.
  • Forty-four should not.
  • Five percent were unsure.

The other question asked was” Do you favor or oppose the Supreme Court’s ruling in the DOMA case (explained as an unconstitutional part of the Defense of Marriage Act that denied married gays and lesbians federal benefits that are available to married couples of the opposite sex)?

  • Forty-eight were in favor.
  • Forty-three were opposed.
  • Nine percent were unsure.
  • Only major demographic groups in which a majority opposed same-sex marriage were  Republicans (68%) and seniors 65 and older (51%).
  • In the South, a stronghold for opposition to gay marriage, opposition has slipped below 50%.

Pew Research Center Survey Findings

Conducted from June 27-30, 2013, interviewees were asked “from what you’ve read and heard about the Supreme Court’s decisions on same-sex marriage, would you say you strongly approve, approve, disapprove, or strongly disapprove of their decision?”

  • Forty-five percent of those interviewed were in favor.
  • Forty-percent disapproved.
  • Fifteen percent were unsure.
  • Twenty-two percents of Republicans approve.
  • Sixty-three percent off Republicans disapprove.
  • Fifteen percent were unsure.
  • Sixty-one percent of Democrats approve.
  • Twenty-nine percent of Democrats disapprove.
  • Ten percent of Democrats are unsure.

In answer to the question: “Did the Supreme Court rule in favor of those who opposed same-sex marriage, or those who support same-sex marriage?” the respondents opined:

  • Sixty-six percent supported the decision.
  • Thirteen percent opposed it.
  • Twenty-one percent were unsure.

Replying to the question “Do the Supreme Court’s rulings mean that same-sex couples can now get married in all 50 states, or is it up to individual states to determine whether same-sex couples can get married”, the respondents answered:

  • Sixty-seven percent said it is up to each state.
  • Fifteen percent said homosexuals can marry in all 50 states.
  • Eighteen percent are unsure.

ABC News/Washington Post Poll

Conducted from June 26-30, 2013, adults nationwide were asked “Overall, do you approve or disapprove of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision providing legally married same-sex couples with the same federal benefits given to another married couples?”

  • Fifty-six approved.
  • Forty-one disapproved.
  • Three percent were unsure.

Asked the question “overall, do you approve of disapprove of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision letting stand a lower court ruling that allows gay marriage in California?”

  • Fifty-one percent approve.
  • Forty-five percent disapprove.
  • Four percent were unsure

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Boeing’s Survivor Benefits Awarded to Same-sex Spouses

Initial Denial of Benefits Rescinded

One of the largest global aircraft manufacturers in the world, Boeing, based in Chicago, announced on January 18, that it has altered its policies on providing survivor pension benefits to same-sex couples.

Boeing employs more than 82,000 workers in Washington state alone, and more than 174,000 worldwide.  Negotiations the week of January 14th with union representatives of Professional Engineering Employees in the Aerospace division and Boeing executives produced an agreement:

Recognizing Boeing’s commitment to equality without regard to sexual orientation, Boeing will extend pension survivor benefits to all spouses, as defined under either State or Federal Law whichever defines the same sex person as a spouse.

How R-74 Impacted Same-sex Benefits

Last November, Washington state voters approved R-74 or Referendum 74, the ballot initiative that affirmed the state legislative’s passage of a marriage equality bill.  Boeing’s married same-sex couples expected pension survivor benefits.  Governor Chris Gregoire last February signed the initiative, but Preserve Marriage gathered enough signatures for a referendum and the law never took effect, instead remaining on hold pending this past election.

During contract negotiations last November, Boeing executives told Ray Goforth, executive director of SPEEA’s IFPTE Local 2001 representing 23,000 Boeing engineers and technical workers (most are employed at Boeing in Washington state) that it intended to deny pension survivor benefits to its married same-sex couples. Since pensions are governed by federal law, and the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) does not recognize same-sex couples, Boeing defended its position that even with passage of Washington state’s marriage equality law, the federal law would override the state statue. ( see “Boeing CanGo Fly A Kite,” Gay News from Gay Agenda, 08 Dec 2012).

Goforth and Union Pleased with Outcome

“We are satisfied that this language (in the agreement) protects same-sex spouses,” said Goforth, who on November 21st, was once again trying to get equal pension benefits for same-sex domestic partners at Boeing.  After Boeing initially denied the benefits, an online petition at Change.org urged the company to change its position, received over 79,000 signatures.

 

DOMA May Soon Be A Relic of the Past

Vermont has joined ranks with New York and Connecticut to ask the district courts to rule that the 1996 federal law that limits marriage to the union of one man and woman is unconstitutional.

How DOMA is Unfair

The Defense of Marriage Act deprives same-sex couples of over 1,000 federal benefits including federal income tax credits, employment and retirement benefits, health insurance coverage, Social Security payments, and unfairly discriminates against them.

The Federalist challenges to DOMA are that it infringes on the 10th Amendment to the Constitution, which grants the states all the powers not specifically reserved for the federal government.  It also claims that DOMA violates Article 1, Section 8 of the Constitution, which limits the power of Congress to attach terms and conditions on the allocation of federal funds.

Gay marriage is legal in Vermont, New York and Connecticut, but they have filed a brief in a case brought by  Edith “Edie” Windsor, a New York City lesbian married woman, who had to pay $363,000 in federal estate taxes on her partner’s Thea Spyer’s estate. The couple were together for forty-four years and married in Toronto.

Case in Point

Windsor sued the government in 2010. She is awaiting a response from the Supreme Court. She is continuing to defend herself in the Second Circuit of Appeals. Windsor, 83, has a heart condition. Because of the District Court’s ruling in her favor, she is entitled to an automatic stay of enforcement, but she can not yet receive a refund from the estate tax that she was forced to pay.

The federal government said last year it would stop defending DOMA. President Obama has signaled his opposition to DOMA by ordering the Justice Department to no longer defend the law in court. Obama believes the onus for changing the law falls on Congress

President Obama made same-sex marriage part of his Democratic platform. Several federal judges have ruled that DOMA is unconstitutional, including Massachusetts which was the first state to legalize same-sex marriage in 2004.

Another Case: Five Same-Sex Binational Couples Sue to Overturn DOMA

If you are a heterosexual married person in the U.S., you can sponsor an immigrant spouse for legal residence. Not so if you are married to immigrants of the same sex. Binational same-sex couples are at risk of either being separated by deportation or being forced to leave the U.S. in order to stay together. The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court, last Monday for the Eastern District of New York challenges that situation

Victoria Neilson, the legal director for Immigration Equality and a co-counsel in the case, argues that ” DOMA violates the Constitution by mandating different legal treatment for gay couples.  There are married couples in the states of New York, Connecticut and Vermont who can sponsor their spouses for green cards, and the only thing preventing the couples in our case from doing that is the fact that they are in lesbian and gay relationships. The Constitution does not allow that kind of discriminatory treatment between two groups that are identical. “