The latest in a line of polls gauging public opinion on the proposed right of gay couples to marry in Britain has found two thirds of the public support it.
Over the weekend, the Populus poll asked a thousand voters in Scotland, England and Wales what they thought of such a move, proposals for which have been formally unveiled as part of a public consultation by the government for England and Wales today.
The majority of those asked in the phone poll agreed with the statement: “Gay couples should have an equal right to get married, not just to have civil partnerships.”
65 percent agreed, 27 percent disagreed and 8 percent said they did not know.
Support for the move was highest among women and those aged 18 to 34. The proportion for agreeement Scotland was 66 percent.
59 percent told Populus they agreed gay couples should have equal rights to adoption and while while three quarters thought gay couples should have “exactly the same rights” as straight couples, only 58 percent thought children should be taught in schools about gay relationships’ equal status.
A questionable poll commissioned by Catholics Voices and conducted by ComRes was released last week. It appeared to show that 70 per cent of the public are opposed to same sex couples getting married. A full PinkNews analysis of the subject is here.
Polls by ICM and YouGov released at the weekend found 45 percent and 43 percent support for equal marriage respectively. In the ICM poll, 36 percent opposed the move and the YouGov poll, 32 percent opted for civil partnerships and 15 percent thought gays should have no legal recognition.
The coalition group Scotland for Marriage, a sister organisation to the Coalition for Marriage in England and Wales, will be running a series of adverts in the Scottish press today on their latest poll.
In that poll, conducted by the Opinion Research Business, 53 percent agreed with the statement: “Since gay and lesbian couples already have the same rights as married couples available to them under civil partnership, they should not be allowed to redefine marriage for everyone else.”
The question was described as “biased and misleading” by equal marriage advocates the Equality Network and was equally derided when the Coalition for Marriage used it in a ComRes poll to show support for their position earlier this year.
by Stephen Gray
Source – PinkNews
