From Hrccomm@aol.com Wed Nov 13 10:01:09 1996 Received: from casti.com (vector.casti.com [199.181.80.100]) by qrd.rdrop.com (8.6.9/8.6.9) with ESMTP id KAA12894 for ; Wed, 13 Nov 1996 10:01:08 -0800 From: Hrccomm@aol.com Received: from emout10.mail.aol.com by casti.com (8.6.9/NX3.0M) id MAA08765; Wed, 13 Nov 1996 12:56:14 -0500 Received: by emout10.mail.aol.com (8.6.12/8.6.12) id MAA04387; Wed, 13 Nov 1996 12:15:33 -0500 Date: Wed, 13 Nov 1996 12:15:33 -0500 Message-ID: <961113121532_1815213229@emout10.mail.aol.com> To: Philattey@aol.com Subject: Poll Finds Americans Increasingly Support Equal Rights For Gays ________________________________________________________ NEWS from the Human Rights Campaign 1101 14th Street NW Washington, DC 20005 email: communications@hrcusa.org WWW: http://www.hrcusa.org ________________________________________________________ FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Tuesday, Nov. 12, 1996 POLL FINDS AMERICANS INCREASINGLY SUPPORT EQUAL RIGHTS FOR GAYS AND LESBIANS Angry Same-Sex Marriage Debate Had Little Impact on Elections WASHINGTON -- Americans favor extending many of the components of legal marriage to gay men and lesbians, according to a poll released today by Greenberg Research Inc., commissioned by the Human Rights Campaign. The survey, conducted immediately after the elections, found that more than half of U.S. voters support full hospital visitation rights; protecting gay and lesbian parents from having their children taken away; health care benefits; and inheritance rights for gay and lesbian spouses. And in spite of the divisive public debate on same-sex marriage this year, few voters cast their ballots based on gay and lesbian issues, according to the poll. "Even more encouraging is the continued strong support for outlawing job discrimination against gays," said David M. Smith, HRC's communications director. Indeed, the survey found that voters were significantly more concerned about the agenda of religious political extremists (41 percent) than that of gay and lesbian groups (24 percent). Plus, the poll found continued strong support for the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), a bill to outlaw job discrimination based on sexual orientation. "This survey shows that Americans are increasingly supportive of extending equal rights to gay men and lesbians, not only in the workplace but to our committed relationships as well," Smith said. On the subject of ENDA, voters were asked whether they favored the bill to "extend civil rights protections in the workplace to cover gays and lesbians." Fifty-five percent said they favored it while 30 percent said they were opposed. When the question was reframed to explain that there are no federal laws to protect gays from job discrimination, 63 percent said they favored the bill and 26 percent said they opposed it. The poll found that 85 percent of voters believe that it is illegal to fire a person merely for being gay or lesbian, up from 70 percent in a poll conducted for HRC in February 1995. At the same time, 70 percent of respondents said they believe gays and lesbians should be protected from discrimination in the workplace, consistent with poll results from two years ago. This support for workplace protection extends to teachers, who voters believe should be protected by a 2-1 margin, 62 percent to 31 percent. Voters were evenly split over whether President Clinton's or Bob Dole's positions on same-sex marriage and gay issues were important. However, 40 percent of those surveyed said they agreed more with Clinton on gay issues while 31 percent said they agreed with Dole. More than half of all voters were in favor of extending many of the legal components of marriage to gay and lesbian couples, according to the poll. There was nearly universal support -- 82 percent -- for full hospital visitation rights for gay partners. Sixty-two percent said they support inheritance rights for gay spouses; 54 percent favor protecting gay and lesbian parents from having their children taken away; 51 percent support health care benefits for gay spouses; and 46 percent back Social Security benefits for gay spouses. Yet the poll found that 55 percent support the Defense of Marriage Act, a federal law enabling states to ignore same-sex marriages performed in other states. "Voters continue to be torn by this issue," Smith said. "This poll clearly illustrates that most people would like to see gay and lesbian couples afforded the components of legal marriage but they continue to oppose allowing gay people to legally wed." Voters also voiced support for AIDS research funding. Sixty-nine percent of those surveyed said they believe the government should provide AIDS drugs to those who need them but can't pay. Finally, the percentage of people who say they know someone gay continues to grow. A total of 72 percent of those surveyed said they know someone gay or lesbian, compared to 66 percent in a Newsweek poll conducted in May, and 53 percent in February 1994. The survey of 1,007 voters was conducted Nov. 5-8 for HRC by Greenberg Research Inc., a Democratic polling firm based in Washington. It had an error margin of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points. The Human Rights Campaign is the largest national lesbian and gay political organization, with members throughout the country. It effectively lobbies Congress, provides campaign support and educates the public to ensure that lesbian and gay Americans can be open, honest and safe at home, at work and in the community. For the complete poll and frequency data check out HRC's Online Action Center http://www.hrcusa.org. AOL users can click here: WWW: http://www.hrcusa.org - 30 -