Public Religion Research Institute conducted a poll in both english and spanish through random phone interviews with more than 3,300 Californians over a two-week period in late June, examining the religious-based attitudes toward same-sex marriage two years after Proposition 8 was approved. Here's what it found: * One in four Californians reported that their views on rights for gay and lesbian people had become more supportive over the last five years, or three times as many as the 8% who said they had become more opposed, the poll revealed. * 29% of Californians polled said they believed Proposition 8 was bad for the state, compared with 22% who believed it was “a good thing.” * A total of 51% of Californians said they would vote to allow homosexuals to marry if a vote similar to Proposition 8 were held tomorrow, compared with 45% who said they would vote to keep same-sex marriage illegal, the survey showed. *twice as many black Protestants, or 27%, indicated they had become more supportive of homosexual rights, compared with 13% who indicated they had become more opposed. *Among Latino Catholics, 31% had become more supportive of gay rights issues; 9% had become more opposed. * Among Californians who reported hearing negative messages from their clergy, only 19% said they supported same-sex marriage, and nearly half rejected legal recognition of the relationships between gay couples. *among Californians who heard positive messages at their places of worship, six in 10 said marriages between homosexuals should be allowed. * An additional 22% said they supported civil unions, and only 18% opposed legal recognition of same-sex relationships How do you think this could affect the upcoming federal district decision on the constitutionality of Proposition 8?
OLSON: Well, would you like your right to free speech? Would you like Fox’s right to free press put up to a vote and say well, if five states approved it, let’s wait till the other 45 states do? These are fundament constitutional rights. The Bill of Rights guarantees Fox News and you, Chris Wallace, the right to speak. It’s in the constitution. And the Supreme Court has repeatedly held that the denial of our citizens of the equal rights to equal access to justice under the law, is a violation of our fundamental rights. Yes, it’s encouraging that many states are moving towards equality on the basis of sexual orientation, and I’m very, very pleased about that. … We can’t wait for the voters to decide that that immeasurable harm, that is unconstitutional, must be eliminated.