Americans, President and Pope Oppose Same-Sex Marriages
By George Anderson
A new CBS News/New York Times poll has found 55 percent of Americans
surveyed would oppose a law allowing homosexual couples to marry. Forty percent
would approve a law giving gay married couples the same legal rights as heterosexuals.
Younger people are much more likely than older Americans to support gay marriage.
Sixty-one percent of 18- to 29-year-olds favor it; that drops to just 18 percent
among people 65 and older.
Self-described conservatives are the biggest opponents of allowing homosexuals
to marry. Seventy-one percent of conservatives, 64 percent of Protestants and
63 percent of blacks are opposed to same-sex unions.
Despite strong opposition from the Vatican, 44 percent of Catholics are in
favor of a law legalizing homosexual marriages with 50 percent against it.
Moderator’s Comment: Should the retail and CPG industry
be in favor or opposed to the enactment of a federal law granting homosexual
marriages the same legal rights as heterosexual married couples? How would legalization
of gay marriages affect business?
A New York Times report said President Bush “believed
Americans should treat gays in a welcoming and respectful manner, he remained
firmly opposed to gay marriages and that administration lawyers were working
to ensure that the term ‘marriage’ would cover only unions between men and women.”
[George
Anderson – Moderator]