O'Neil Associates

Marriage vs. Civil Unions:

The Debate over Same-Sex Partnerships

According to a just-released survey, Valley business and community leaders do not want to amend the constitution to ban gay marriage, but are divided in their assessments of how same-sex partnerships should legally be handled. The Valley Influentials Poll, which surveys members of Valley Leadership, East Valley Partnership, Greater Phoenix Leadership, and Westmarc, asked members how they feel the gay marriage issue should be handled.

Respondents do not want to amend the constitution to ban gay marriage, but at the same time are not unified behind any one solution to the issue. About three-in-ten Valley leaders (31%) would like to see same-sex marriages legalized, while a roughly equal proportion (36%) would like to extend the legal rights of marriage to same sex couples yet change the semantics slightly, calling them ‘Civil Unions.’ Roughly one-fifth (22%) would like nothing changed, and just 11% want a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage.

Gender Differences

The idea of gay marriage is better received among women than it is among men. While less than one-fourth of male Valley leaders (23%) support same-sex marriages, a full 39% of women leaders support this idea. Meanwhile, Civil Unions receive roughly equal levels of support from both men and women (men 37% vs. women 36%). Men, however, are significantly more likely than women to favor maintaining status quo and making no legal changes (men 28% vs. women 16%).

Not surprisingly, those describing themselves as conservative are notably less supportive of same-sex marriages than are those describing themselves as liberal. While over half (55%) of self-described liberals support legalizing same-sex marriage, only 8% of conservatives will support this action. But, not all conservatives are completely opposed to extending legal rights to same-sex partnerships; it must be pointed out that a full 39% of self-described conservatives support Civil Unions. The proportion of conservatives supporting civil unions (39%) actually exceeds the proportion of liberals supporting civil unions (26%), but this is simply because such a large proportion of self-described liberals (55%) support same-sex marriages. Conservatives are more likely than liberals to support taking no action (conservatives 28% vs. liberals 15%) or even amending the constitution to ban gay marriage (conservatives 26% vs. liberals 3%). Meanwhile, gay marriage is supported by 29% of moderates, while 41% of this group favors Civil Unions.

Party Differences

Undoubtedly going hand-in-hand with the ideological differences noted, Democrats are notably more supportive of legalizing gay marriage than are Republicans. In fact, nearly half of Democrats polled (46%) support the legalization of gay marriage, while only 20% of Republicans support it. Reception among Independents is not as strong as among Democrats, yet also not as weak as among Republicans; 31% of independents support the legalization of gay marriage. Republican and Independent voters are more agreeable to the notion of civil unions. In fact, 40% of Republicans and a similar 45% of Independents say they would support civil unions, while they receive the support of only 26% of Democrats.

About the Poll. The O’Neil Associates Valley Influentials Poll is a web-based survey that was sent to all members of Greater Phoenix Leadership, Valley Leadership, East Valley Partnership, and Westmarc. As such, this survey does not purport to be a random or representative sampling of the general population of the Phoenix metropolitan area. It would be difficult, however, to conceive of a more comprehensive representation from which to draw inferences about the opinions and sensibilities of business and community leaders than the combined membership of these organizations, although, inevitably, any definition of influentials is somewhat subjective. The persons surveyed are likely to exert disproportionate influence on and be an early indicator of community opinion by virtue of their position, community involvement, and political participation. The O’Neil Associates Valley Influentials Poll was not sponsored or paid for by any outside organization. 308 participants completed the survey between July 15 and August 2, 2004, yielding a margin of error of ±5.7%. O’Neil Associates, Inc. is a Tempe-based public opinion research firm specializing in client-focused attitude and awareness studies for a wide variety of industries and organizations.