In light of all the controversy surrounding the United States Supreme Court’s decision in late June 2015 to legalize same-sex marriage nationwide, the Associated Press conducted an online survey to see if or how support for the ruling has changed since then. The poll was conducted between the days of July 9th and July 13th and consisted of just over 1000 participants, each one an American adult.
The results indicated that roughly 42% of the nation were in favor of legalizing same-sex marriage and 40% were not. These numbers present a dramatic decline in support, which was estimated to be close to 90% by some surveys, just weeks before the ruling.
(A full article from the Associate Press about their survey can be found here.)
Why the Sudden Shift in Opinion?
The data could expose that many supporters of same-sex marriage rights were on the fence about the issue as a whole, or perhaps did not fully understand it. It seems that once it was declared and protestors started making their arguments, these wary supporters then chose to categorize themselves as undecided. If true, it would explain how support could drastically drop without opposition sharply rising at the same time.
Some politicians and lawmakers express that a difference of only 2% is not enough to justify the legalization of same-sex marriage nationwide, especially since it overruled individual states’ decisions and could be seen as an affront to religious freedoms. While they will surely use this recent survey information to bolster their arguments, it is yet to be seen if any changes to the new law will come about. After all, it is entirely possible that the extrapolated poll results do not accurately reflect the whole of America.
With more than 80 years of combined experience, the professional Scottsdale family law attorneys at Owens & Perkins, Attorneys at Law have become a trusted source of reliable representation in Arizona. If you have any legal disputes that could be affected by the Supreme Court’s ruling, or the possible changes coming to it, you can depend on us to handle them with both efficiency and compassion. Contact our team today to learn how we can help you.
