Monday, February 23, 2009

GOP Push Poll

The GOP is out with a "push poll" that says most people don't want a domestic partners bill to pass in the New Mexico State Legislature. Prior to a dishonest 'push' claim, a plurality of voters said they supported a domestic partners bill. Then the GOP pollsters said that the Supreme Courts of some states have said their constitutions would equate a domestic partner bill with same sex marriage. New Mexico's Supreme Court has not ruled on that and it is probably true that our Constitution would not allow such a comparison. But the GOP, being the bigoted party that it is, and with the aide of the Catholic Church in New Mexico, just wants to make gays miserable and second class. Shame on them and double shame on the Archbishop. If the GOP wants folks to take this poll seriously, then they should release the questions they asked and the order in which they asked them.

Here are some arguments countering the GOPs contentions.

Marriage and Domestic Partnership: The Facts

1. Domestic Partnership does not automatically lead to marriage for

gay couples. In the overwhelming majority of states that have Domestic Partnerships or similar arrangements, same-sex couples are not allowed to marry. (Hawaii, Maine, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Oregon, Vermont and Washington).

2. Domestic Partnership laws do not make courts require marriage.

It is true that courts in two states that had domestic partnership—California and Connecticut—did allow marriage. But those rulings were based on the state constitution, not the domestic partnership law.

Seven of the nine states that have Domestic Partnership have not allowed gay couples to marry. In two of those states (Washington and New Jersey), courts specifically decided their constitutions did not require

marriage. The first state court to allow gay marriage, Massachusetts, did not have a Domestic Partnership law.

3. Domestic Partnership laws are not marriage. Nor are they a requisite for marriage: most states that do have Domestic Partnership laws have not gotten to marriage, and states that don’t have Domestic Partnership laws have gotten marriage.

4. Domestic Partnership laws are about allowing couples who love each other to take care of each other. No matter how you feel about marriage, how can you be against that?



2 comments:

PhoenixRising said...

Jim, it's simpler than any of this.

NMGOP is a group of known liars who will do and say anything to meet their political goals--see Justine Fox-Young and the 'voter fraud' scandal of October 2008.

It's no surprise that they're making things up on this issue, because the passage of a marriage-lite DP law in this state is going to interrupt the flow of money from more successful Republicans in other states and regions. Because Republicans don't like to reward failure.

Specific to this set of lies: In states where same sex couples have asked courts whether they have a right to get legally married, results vary.

Not surprisingly, though, states in which these cases have succeeded tend to be more likely to pass laws giving same sex couples limited rights.

Unknown said...

ahhh .. now I know why I voted for you to become Land Commissioner, besides having the best logo, you are a true progressive Latino, like me! Thanks Jim!