Iowa Poll on Same-Sex Marriage Disconnect

The Des Moines Register fielded a poll on same-sex marriage.  Its report was in the newspaper yesterday.  There were two things that jumped out at me as I read the article, and they seem to be disconnected to me.

Des Moines Regiser Graphic

First, Iowans are evenly divided on the question of whether to ban same-sex marriage.  As you can see in the graphic above:

Forty-one percent say they would vote for a ban, and 40 percent say they would vote to continue gay marriage. The rest either would not vote or say they are not sure.

The most intensity about the issue shows up among opponents. The percentage of Iowans who say they strongly oppose gay marriage (35 percent) is nearly double the percentage who say they strongly favor it (18 percent).

That’s all fine; I don’t have an issue with the numbers on their face.

Des Moines Regiser Graphic

But here’s where the disconnect comes:

The overwhelming majority of Iowans — 92 percent — say gay marriage has brought no real change to their lives.

So here’s my question.  If you’re not affected by your gay neighbor’s marriage, why in the world would you vote to ban it?  That smacks of spite, or simple bigotry, to me.  I don’t care if you dress it up in religious terms.  It would be a vote to remove a right from a distinct group of people based solely on the characteristics of the group.  That’s discrimination on its face, and is wrong.

It proves same-sex couples’ point — we’re not out there trying to gain special rights, and we’re not out there trying to change people.  We simply want to live our lives with the same — same, not different — legal protections that our heterosexual parents and brothers and sisters and friends enjoy.  And most importantly, our marriages and relationships cause absolutely no harm to anyone else’s marriage or relationship.

So it’s time to grow up, America.  Stop hiding behind religion as a cover for discrimination.  I don’t have a problem with anyone’s religious beliefs; anyone is free to believe in what they want in America.  It’s a free country (for some).  But my wise high school government teacher taught me that my right to move my elbow ends at the rib cage of the person next to me.  The same thing applies to religion.  People are entitled to their religious beliefs, but they’re not allowed to make them impact me.  But that is what’s happening in America now, and it’s time for it to end.

There is some hope, though, that people’s opinions are moving our way.  See Nate Silver’s analysis on the changing attitudes on same-sex marriage in America.  Attitudes are changing, albeit very slowly.