Fridae

According to a recent poll, more than half of Americans would support a law preventing same-sex marriage and designate marriage to be defined as between a man and a woman only.

The poll, which surveyed 1,028 adults from every state but Alaska and Hawaii, was conducted from August 8-12 for the Associated Press conducted by ICR International Communications Research.

It found that 52% are against same-sex marriage and favour a law banning such unions while nearly 41% oppose such a law, with a similar number supporting civil unions in general.

However, 53% now say they are also against non-religious civil unions, up from 46% in an earlier survey. The poll suggests the increase comes from people who were undecided three years earlier.

About four in 10 - 41 per cent - support allowing civil unions, roughly the same level found in an AP poll three years ago.

But 53 per cent now say they oppose civil unions, up from 46 per cent in the earlier survey. The increase came largely from people who earlier were undecided, the polls suggested.

The poll also shows that presidential candidates who support gay marriage or civil unions may lose rather than gain votes. Close to half those surveyed said they would be less likely to support a presidential candidate who backs civil unions (44 per cent) or gay marriage (49 per cent), while only around 10 per cent said they would be more likely.

Most worryingly, the poll results indicate that the Democratic presidential candidates in the 2004 election could face a backlash if they support gay marriage or civil unions, which provide gay couples the legal rights and benefits of marriage.

The sex leading candidates say they oppose gay marriage but are sharply critical of efforts to legally ban it, either with a law or by amending the Constitution.

Four of the six - former Vermont governor Howard Dean (who signed Vermont's landmark civil unions law in 2000 which defined marriage as being between a man and woman but granting state marriage rights to same-sex couples), Missouri representative Dick Gephardt, Florida senator Bob Graham, and Massachusetts senator John Kerry - say they support civil unions while North Carolina senator John Edwards and Connecticut senator Joe Lieberman say they favour benefits for gay partners but say states should decide on civil unions.

Vermont is the only American state that recognises same-sex civil unions while in Canada, same-sex couples in British Columbia and Ontario have already won the legal right to marry.

Two weeks ago, US President George Bush, took his first strong position on the issue. The Republican and Methodist, who admitted to reading the Bible every morning, told reporters at the White House press conference, "I believe a marriage is between a man and a woman, and I think we ought to codify that one way or the other, and we've got lawyers looking at the best way to do that."

---

Some activists in the US are worried that the poll results are indicative that support for gay rights is slipping while others believe that the apparent backlash is "a temporary overreaction."

David Smith of the gay advocacy group Human Rights Campaign said, "Voters get jittery at first when there are positive developments, but then they adjust to the new reality over time."

Matt Foreman, head of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, is of a different opinion. "Frankly, I'm terrified," he said. "Our community and our organisations do not control how and when this is presented to the American people. The resources that our community has at its disposal to work on the message are puny compared to those of our enemies. The right wing understands that time is on our side, and that's why they are going to push for a definitive showdown now."

In related news: although the US Supreme Court ruled in June - striking down sodomy laws, 26 men have been arrested for having sex in a Virginia adult bookstore and will be tried on sodomy charges. The men were indicted on July 21, about a month after the Supreme Court ruling. Police said the arrests followed a three-month sting operation into goings on at the bookstore.

The men were caught on cameras posted outside the store which sells sex toys, pornographic magazines and videos and provides booths for customers who pay to watch pornographic videos.

A spokesperson for Virginia Attorney General Jerry W. Kilgore said the court ruling only applies to sex acts in private and believes that the Court decision does not preclude prosecutions for public sodomy or solicitation to commit sodomy.

Although Harrisonburg Commonwealth's Attorney Marsha Garst said the men who were arrested were not targeted because they are gay and that the Police would have cracked down on the activity just as strongly had heterosexuals been having sex in a public place such as a bookstore, she could not cite any instances where heterosexuals have been charged under the law since the Supreme Court ruling.

Many legal experts say Virginia's "Crimes Against Nature" statute, does not distinguish between public and private activity.

Kent Willis, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia, told the Roanoke Times, "Our interpretation is that any charges under the sodomy law are invalid at this point." Other misdemeanour charges were available to the police, he said, including lewd and lascivious cohabitation, obscene exhibitions and indecent exposure.

A trial date in the case has not been set.