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10/14/06-10/16/06

Same-sex marriage bans may fail at ballot box for first time

Same-sex marriage bans may fail at ballot box for first time

Support for constitutional amendments banning same-sex marriage is weak in three of the eight states that will vote on them this November, and in one—Colorado—a competing measure to establish domestic partnerships for same-sex couples is currently backed by a majority of voters. The growing sense that key victories will be had this Election Day is in stark contrast to 2004, when constitutional bans on same-sex marriage were approved in 13 states, USA Today reports.

"It could be a watershed year," Carrie Evans, state legislative director at the gay lobby group Human Rights Campaign, told the paper. Indeed, defeat of even one of the proposed marriage bans would be a major triumph, since all 19 state measures that have been voted on to date were overwhelmingly approved, with support averaging 70%.

This year, however, opposition to such a measure in Arizona is currently at 51%, with only 38% of voters supporting it, according to a recent poll, while the proposed marriage ban in South Dakota is opposed by 49% of voters, with 41% in support. In Colorado, which has ballot measures both to ban same-sex marriage and to create domestic partnerships, a recent poll showed that only 52% of voters are in favor of the former but that 58% favored the latter.

Pollsters attribute the erosion of support for marriage bans to better-orchestrated opposition campaigns as well as ever-increasing acceptance of gay people. (The Advocate)

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