Poll reveals most Massachusetts voters want to vote on traditional marriage

Jan 8, 2004 / 22:00 pm

According to a recent Zogby International poll, 69 percent of Massachusetts voters want to vote on a constitutional amendment to keep the traditional definition of marriage, the Coalition for Marriage announced Jan. 8.

Though only a state-wide survey, the Zogby poll results confirm other surveys in the United States in which the majority of Americans said they want marriage to remain as the union of one man and one woman.

A New York Times/CBS News national poll, conducted Dec. 10-13, indicated that 61 percent of Americans opposed same-sex marriage, and 55 percent favored an amendment to the United States Constitution that would allow marriage only between a man and a woman.

Less than one week later, a USA Today/CNN poll, conducted Dec. 15-16, showed that 65 percent of Americans think marriages between homosexuals should not be legal.

"It seems the more people consider the long-term impact of homosexual marriage on the family and society, the more they oppose homosexual marriage," said Ron Crews, spokesman for the Coalition for Marriage.

The broad-based Coalition supports an amendment to the state constitution to define marriage as only between one man and one woman. The amendment will be taken up by the state legislature Feb. 11.

The Zogby poll, conducted Dec. 16-18, also indicated that 52 percent of Massachusetts voters agreed that only marriage between one man and one woman should be legal and binding in America. More than two-thirds, or 69 percent, believed it is better for children to be raised in a household with a married mother and father.

Half of all respondents believed that the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court overstepped its bounds in its decision to redefine marriage Nov. 18, and 64 percent would support an amendment to require that the Judicial Court judges be subject to re-election.

As well, 73 percent of respondents felt that if homosexual couples want to provide for each other, they can continue do so through private arrangements already allowed under the law.

"The institution of marriage does not need to be redefined for people to provide for each other, and when it comes to changing the institution of marriage, voters are saying, ‘enough is enough'," said Crews.

The Zogby International poll was a random survey of 601 Massachusetts voters and has a margin of error +/- 4.1 percentage points.