News

By Kathleen Gilbert

NEW YORK, June 19, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The results of a poll revealed this week show a significant drop in support for same-sex “marriage” since April of this year.

Only 33% of respondents to the CBS News/New York Times poll said same-sex couples should be allowed to marry, down 9% from April's findings, which was an all-time high at 42%. 30% in the June survey said that homosexual couples should be allowed civil unions, while 32% said homosexual couples should be given no legal recognition.

The new data brings the numbers back on a level with March's poll, where one out of three supported same-sex “marriage.”

Gary Schneeberger, vice president of media and public relations for Focus on the Family Action, conjectured that the plummeting support may represent a backlash from Americans troubled by a sudden rash of states legalizing same-sex “marriage” through the judiciary or the legislature, rather than a voter referendum.

Since April, New Hampshire, Maine, Vermont, and Iowa joined Massachusetts and Connecticut in recognizing same-sex “marriage.” The circumstances of Iowa's decision was particularly controversial, as it resulted from an activist court ruling instigated by homosexual activists, who openly admitted that the decision was the fruit of years of researching sympathetic state Supreme Courts. (see coverage)

True marriage supporters also fear that instability in New York's legislature may lead to a hastened vote on that state's proposed same-sex “marriage” legislation.

Scheenburger also suggested that the poll results could indicate Americans are turning to alternative media to learn about same-sex “marriage.”

“In reporting the results of its own poll, CBS used the word 'dip' to describe the 9 percent plunge in support for gay marriage,” Schneeberger said. “In elections, it's considered a landslide when a candidate wins by 10 points. So to describe this as a 'dip' pretty clearly illustrates where CBS, at least, stands on this issue.”