Support for Civil Unions Outweighs Marriage

November 13, 2006

TRENTON—Support for same-sex marriage in New Jersey was significantly less than that for civil unions in a poll taken shortly after the New Jersey Supreme Court ruled that gay couples should have the same rights as married heterosexuals.

A little more than half of the Rutgers-Eagleton poll's 809 respondents favored changing the state constitution so that gay marriages would be banned. In June, a poll showed the opposite, with a little more than half opposing such a constitutional amendment. Some lawmakers reacted to the ruling by calling for a constitutional ban on gay marriage. Leaders in the legislature, along with the governor, have said they would not favor such a move. Instead, lawmakers plan in the next months to debate what to call the nuptials.

Some gay marriage advocates, cheered on by the gay rights group Garden State Equality, are calling for not only the marriage rights, but also the name. Thursday's survey shows those activists are in for an uphill battle. In the poll, about three in 10 adults surveyed wanted to allow gay and lesbian couples to marry, while 4 in 10 wanted civil unions.

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