Poll: Voters favor one anti-gay-rights measure by Michael Paulson and Scott Maier, PI Reporters Seattle Post-Intelligencer May 4, 1994 reprinted without permission A proposed initiative that would bar the state from granting rights based on homosexuality has a solid lead among voters, according to the first independent state-wide poll on the subject. A proposed initiative that would prohibit the state from awarding children to gays and lesbians in child-custody proceedings is trailing slightly in the poll, which was conducted by Elway Research of Seattle. The poll found the first initiative, I-608, leading by 11 percentage points and the second, I-610, trailing by 5 points, with a margin of error of 4.8 percent. "This confirms what we've been saying all along," said Doug Burman, one of the principal architects of I-608. "The great majority of citizens are against special rights for homosexuals." Lon Mabon, head of the Oregon Citizens Alliance and a principal organiz- er of I-610, said polls regularly underestimate the strength of anti- gay-rights initiatives. "A lot of people are afraid (to tell how they will vote) because of the high level of intimidation generated by the homosexual community and the editorial pages of some newspapers," Mabon said. "Those numbers are better than we ever had in Oregon, and realistically, were probably winning." Charles Brydon, president of Washington Citizens for Fairness, an organization opposing both initiatives, said his own polling confirm's Elway's results. "People are operating on information they've been programmed with since childhood on homosexuality," Brydon said. "We have a lot of education to do." Elway Research questioned 450 registered voters on April 18 and 19, well before most voters have begun to think seriously about the November election and before either side has begun full-scale campaigning. The proponents of each initiative need 180,000 voter signatures by July 8 to place the measures on the ballot. "I wouldn't bet the farm on answers to questions in April," said Stuart Elway of Elway Research. "Other initiatives have had big leads early and then faded at the end." The poll found that 47 percent of voters support I-608, while 36 percent oppose it and 18 percent are undecided. The poll found that 38 percent of voters support I-610, while 43 percent oppose it and 19 percent are undecided. The trends were even more pronounced among those considered the most likely to vote this year because they have voted in three of the past four elections. In that group, I-608 had a 14-point lead, while I-610 was losing by 7 points. Elway noted that poll responses can be dramatically altered based on how an initiative is described. Respondents were told that both initiatives "would prohibit the govern- ment from establishing programs or otherwise taking action that could be deemed to promote homosexuality" and that they "would bar discussion of homosexuality in public schools and would not allow gays or lesbians to receive any rights or benefits solely on the basis of their homosexuali- ty." Respondents also were told that I-610 "would add a provision to prevent adoption by gays or lesbians and would deny child custody to gay or lesbian parents in divorce cases." Brydon said Washington Citizens for Fairness can change voters' minds through an aggressive campaign. Voters do not support "special rights," he said, but "the electorate does a complete 180-degree turn" when told that gays and lesbians have no legal protection in state law against employment and housing discrim- ination.