"MARRIAGE" VS "UNION": From the Atlanta Journal-Constitution

What a difference a word makes.

More than 60 percent of likely Georgia voters intend to vote in favor of an amendment to the state constitution that would ban marriage between homosexual couples, according to a poll conducted last week for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution by Zogby International.

But when asked whether the permanent relationships of gay couples should enjoy a legal status that's called something "other than marriage," those same voters are split down the middle, at 47 percent each. ...

Opponents of Georgia's proposed constitutional ban on gay marriage said the support expressed for gay civil unions in the survey underscores the importance of a legal battle that goes to the state Supreme Court this week.

In an attempt to block the vote, opponents are claiming that the language on the November ballot is misleading. The question asks voters whether marriage should be restricted to heterosexual couples. Left unseen is language that also would ban civil unions between gay couples, opponents say. ...

Sadie Fields said she is skeptical of the support the poll shows for gay civil unions. Fields is president of the Georgia Christian Coalition and organized the effort to have the ban placed on the November ballot.

Once the details connected with civil union are examined --- such as child custody, adoption, spousal insurance benefits --- voter support will disappear, Fields said.

In fact, in a separate poll done for the Journal-Constitution by Zogby a week earlier, those respondents, after being read a series of scenarios, had stronger opposition to civil unions, 56 percent to 40 percent.

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posted by Eve at 3:17 PM VOTE

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