Survey suggests state is warming to gay issues

Two years ago, by a 57 percent to 43 percent margin, Colorado voters approved a constitutional amendment defining marriage as being between a man and a woman. At the same time, they also defeated a measure to allow civil unions.

Now, according to a survey released Thursday, more Coloradans appear to be embracing ideas such as civil unions and gay marriage.

A slim majority of Coloradans support gay marriage and four-fifths support gay civil unions, according to the survey commissioned by the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation in California, and conducted Nov. 10-16 by Harris Interactive with 502 Colorado residents.

GLAAD conducted a national poll, but Colorado was the only state the group polled separately. Even though California's Proposition 8 to outlaw gay marriage is more timely, having passed in the November election, the group felt that Colorado's history on gay issues and its being home to two opposing forces on the issue - Focus on the Family and the Gill Foundation - made this the best crucible for their research.

GLAAD's leaders seemed pleased with the results.

"Visibility is leading to the conversation, and the conversation with family and friends is giving people a better understanding about gay and lesbian people," said Neil Giuliano, president of GLAAD. "And they understand we need legal protections just like everyone else."

But some say GLAAD's numbers seem slanted.

"My first reaction is that these results seem pretty high, and I say that because of the disparity between what Colorado voters said in 2006 and what this survey says," said Jenny Tyree, a marriage analyst at Focus on the Family.

The new poll suggests that 83 percent now support civil unions whereas only 47 percent did in voting booths two years ago.

Giuliano argued that misinformation during campaigns accounts for much of the discrepancy and that attitudes on these issues are changing quickly. But independent Colorado-based pollster Floyd Ciruli also questioned the poll's findings.

"While there probably has been some increase in tolerance of gays, we have only contrary evidence," Ciruli said. "In actual elections, these things lose. And that says something to you: Take polls with a grain of salt. They are showing a trend, but I don't think Americans have gone there yet."

The word "yet" is significant, though.

"Polling data seems to indicate that there is a general leftward trend, not huge, but higher levels of acceptance," Ciruli said.

A scant 15 years ago, only 25 to 30 percent of Americans supported gay marriage and most hadn't considered civil unions, Ciruli said, so the tenor of the debate has changed significantly in a relatively short period of time. People under 45 also show stronger support for gays than older people, which is a positive demographic trend for gay rights advocates.

More than 20 percent of Coloradoans have a more favorable opinion of gays than they did five years ago, said the GLAAD survey, and the most significant agent of change is knowing a gay person.

Ryan Acker, executive director of the Pikes Peak Gay and Lesbian Community Center, said he can feel that momentum on the local level.

"While it has been disheartening on the legal level, we do know there's a huge shift taking place," Acker said. "There's a sense of optimism in taking things head on. Every time those discussions take place and those actions take place, it moves the community forward."

On the opposite side, Tyree said she doesn't know what will happen in years to come, but she thinks the California vote is significant and the body of evidence of 30 states banning gay marriage indicates that Americans aren't yet convinced they need to tinker with the institution of marriage.

CONTACT THE WRITER: 636-0226 or bill.reed@gazette.com

Highlights from the survey of Coloradans commissioned by the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation

83% favor civil unions
51% favor gay marriage
66% favor allowing openly gay military personnel to serve in the armed forces
63% favor expanding hate crime laws to cover gay and transgender people
56% favor employment, housing, and public accommodations non-discrimination laws for gay and transgender people
73% oppose laws that would ban qualified gay and lesbian couples from adopting children

Who tends to support gay rights:

• Younger people. Support wanes in people over 65, but is strong in people under 45.
• Women.
• Democrats.
• Catholics and mainline Christians, but not evangelical Christians