“A new poll released by FreedomOhio shows dramatic shifts over the past 10 years in Ohioans’ attitudes toward same sex marriage,” reports WOUB’s Tom Hudson on Dec. 20.
Ohio University alum Ian James ’89, co-founder of Freedom to Marry Ohio, earned a B.A. in Political Science from the Ohio University College of Arts & Sciences.
In 2004, 62 percent, of those voting, supported a constitutional amendment in Ohio to ban same-sex marriage. The latest poll shows 56 percent of Ohioans support a new amendment that would allow same-sex marriages but also allow “houses of worship the right to refuse to marry a same sex couple.”
The poll, conducted by Public Policy Polling (PPP), tested the full text of the amendment, allowing respondents to evaluate the importance of the amendment’s religious freedom protections.
The new proposed amendment would allow marriages but also would give people and institutions a right to refuse to participate in the marriage ceremonies. In short, a right to marry and freedom of religious beliefs are both honored.
“The polling confirms what we have been observing: Voters like concepts, but they vote on specifics. And, voters support our amendment language because it specifically allows an adult couple to marry, regardless of gender, while also guaranteeing that houses of worship have the right refuse to marry a same sex couple, ” Ian James, FreedomOhio co-founder said.
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