A sea change? Some think maybe so…
In a dramatic reversal of decades of public opinion, California voters agree by a slim majority that same-sex couples should be allowed to marry, according to a Field Poll released today.
By 51-42 percent, registered voters said they believed same-sex marriage should be legal in California. Only 28 percent favored gay marriage in 1977, when the Field Poll first asked that question, said Mark DiCamillo, the poll’s director.
“This is a milestone in California,” he said. “You can’t downplay the importance of a change in an issue we’ve been tracking for 30 years.”
Here’s the Field Poll (pdf).
Terrance at Republic of T says it’s happening and he’s got a wealth of links to prove it.
Andrew Sullivan says, yes we can, and his reason for optimism is the timing of civil marriages:
It now seems likely that the first civil marriages in California will take place in June. By the fall, thousands of Californians will be married. The initiative will be asking voters to do two disruptive things: change the state constitution and retroactively impugn these already-existing marriages. This is a tall order. And it’s one more reason that the gay movement needs to understand that this referendum is the most important in the history of our civil rights struggle. To win a democratic vote in favor of marriage equality in the most populous state in the country is a victory unlike any we have had before. We need to organize, raise funds, raise awareness and not be intimidated.
Meanwhile, the LATimes is reporting the California high court is poised to hand gays another victory:
Two weeks after deciding that same-sex couples are entitled to marry, the California Supreme Court appeared inclined today to rule that physicians may not discriminate against gays in medical treatment, regardless of the doctors’ religious views.