Americans Opposed To Same-Sex Marriage Don’t Really Care Much About It Anyway

A new poll commissioned by HRC and performed by a Republican polling firm finds the majority of Americans continue to support same-sex marriage — and those who are opposed to marriage equality don’t care that much about it at all.

“62% of voters say America wouldn’t be all that different if gays and lesbians were allowed to marry, while 74% say their life wouldn’t change,” the polling memo from TargetPoint Consulting’s Alex Lundry states. “But then, even among those that say things would be different, a significant number of them say it would be a change for the better: 20% thought this different country would be a generally positive thing and 30% said their lives would be changed for the better.”

The poll surveyed a strong sample size — 1200 registered voters — and was conducted June 6-10.

Lundry, who was Mitt Romney’s data director, offers these insights into just how ho-hum anti-gay Americans are — which even Lundry sees as bad new for the National Organization For Marriage (NOM).

Marriage opponents don’t agree with NOM’s messaging. Survey respondents were asked to react to recent statements made by Family Research Council President Tony Perkins. Unfortunately for Mr. Perkins, our data indicates his views just aren’t resonating that strongly with his constituents, as only 18% agree with him on this statement while 59% either strongly disagree or somewhat disagree:

“If the Supreme Court steps in and says, ‘We’re redefining marriage, same-sex marriage will be the law across the land,’ it will create a firestorm of opposition. This will be the straw that broke the camel’s back. When you have a nation that is so divided along these moral and cultural issues, you could have a revolt. A revolution. You will see Americans saying, ‘You know what? Enough of this.’ It could explode and just break this nation apart.”

Nothing. That’s what most marriage opponents would do if gay marriage became the law of the land. When asked what they would do if the Supreme Court gave gays and lesbians nationwide the ability to legally marry, most marriage opponents said they wouldn’t do anything. In all, 58% of marriage opponents said they would do nothing, or that there wasn’t anything they would do, or that they would abide by the law of the land:

o “I will not like it, but I will do nothing.”

o “I would do nothing, but just tolerate it.”

o “I would be very disappointed, but I would accept the law.”

o “If that’s the decision of the Supreme Court, then I respect that.”

Ultimately, there were extremely few marriage opponents that anticipate any sort of aggressive action should gay marriage become legal. Only one directly mentions the word “revolution,” five voters threaten to leave the country, and a scant fifteen people (3% of opponents) mention any form of protest. Clearly, there is no real threat of widespread calamity should we extend the freedom to marry to gays and lesbians.

HRC’s Vice President for Communications Fred Sainz offered this observation:

“We’ve always known that NOM’s radical rhetoric doesn’t represent the views of the American people, but NOM can’t even claim to represent the views of the opponents of marriage equality. No matter how many fake mustaches they wear and no matter how many wardrobe changes they make at tomorrow’s rally, Brian Brown can’t fake a movement. They are the proud leaders of a hateful handful — the last gasp of a reactionary rump.”

Politico notes the HRC poll “was conducted to coincide with NOM’s rally near the Capitol and march to the Supreme Court.”

NOM’s rally, called the “March for Marriage” — for which they’ve had to provide dozens of free busses just to get so-called anti-gay marriage supporters to show up — is tomorrow in Washington, D.C.

Image: Man yawning (his personal opinions on marriage equality are unknown.) Photo by Chris Waits via Flickr