What Arkansas voters think about us

No, there wasn’t another chance for our opponents to put our civil rights up for a vote this year in Arkansas. In 2004 government-by-mob resulted in cementing marriage discrimination into the Arkansas Constitution by a vote of 75% to 25%. 2008 saw Arkansas voters vote 57% to 43% to deny parent-less children loving homes and families with Act 1, the foster and adoption ban on unmarried couples. 2010 was free and clear of efforts to put LGBTQ people and their families on the sacrificial altar that is all too often benignly called “politics.”

Where do we stand with voters right now? In an election year dominated by topics like jobs, the economy, and spending we didn’t hear too much about “the gays,” but the yearly Arkansas Poll from the University of Arkansas keeps asking voters and the results are in. The NWA Times reported yesterday in their editorial about the Arkansas Poll and the data was important enough for them to include a mention of marriage equality.

We also note the drop in the percentage of respondents who believe there should be no legal recognition of a gay couple.
The percentage of those polled who think gays should be allowed to marry is still below 20 percent. The number who would allow gay domestic partnerships is also steady at 27 percent, a number consistent with recent years’ findings. However, the number of people who think there should be no legal recognition of a gay couple is below a clear majority at 48 percent. This compares to 54 percent in most recent years.

Let’s work with the relationship recognition numbers first, but please be sure to read all the way down for the numbers on Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. They will surprise you! The numbers for relationship recognition support in Arkansas for the past few years:

So for the first time there is NOT a MAJORITY of Arkansans who want to make same sex couples legal strangers. Though full marriage equality is only supported by 19% of Arkansans, the additional 27% of Arkansans that support civil unions or domestic partnerships bring the total percentage of Arkansas voters who support recognizing same sex relationships to 46%. It’s not the magic fifty percent and I wouldn’t take it to the bank (or the ballot box) but it’s worth noting that support for relationship recognition rose 6 points from 2009. Sound odd for Arkansas? Should we just blame it on the economy?

To put this in perspective, both Equality California and Equality Maine have stated that they will not be returning to the ballot box until they see consistent polling for full marriage equality above 50%. Both states briefly had marriage equality and both states lost it at the ballot box, with just under 48% voting NO to repeal. Our number for marriage equality is 19%. We aren’t there. We won’t be there for a long time. But nearly half of Arkansas voters think there should be some kind of legal protections. Keep your chin up.

Now what about the actual pressing legislative issue dealing with the LGBTQ community, DADT? It was polled for, but why did the NWA Times not report the numbers? Perhaps because it’s not newsworthy? 56% of Arkansas voters approve of “homosexual men and women” serving openly in the military. Read it for yourself:

Something to keep in mind: how you ask the question matters. A CBS Poll this spring showed that the number approving increases if those “homosexuals” are referred to as “gay men and lesbians.” The repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell was held up before the election but the word is that it will be voted on again in a lame-duck session of Congress after the Pentagon reports December 1st on how it will affect the military.