The United States Supreme Court is currently hearing a case on the constitutionality of California Proposition 8 and the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which define marriage as between a man and a woman only, effectively prohibiting Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Questioning (LGBTQ) couples to be legally married and receive federal benefits.
Of 616 students who took The Phillipian’s survey of the student body concerning the recognition of LGBTQ marriages and rights of same-sex couples, 91 percent supported gay marriage. Nine percent of the surveyed students were against it.
According to a March 26 poll by CBS News, 53 percent of Americans believe that gay couples should be able to get married. 39 percent of Americans say gay marriage should not be legal.
When evaluated by region, students from the Northeastern United States were most supportive of gay marriage. 91.1 percent of the 371 students from the Northeast indicated that they were in favor of gay marriage.
Students from the Southeastern United States were slightly less supportive of gay marriage, with 87.8 percent of 36 respondents in favor of LGBTQ rights to be recognized as married under the law. Approximately 43.5 percent of the surveyed students identified themselves with the upper middle socioeconomic class. 24.1 percent identified themselves with the upper class and 22.0 percent with the middle class. Respondents in the upper middle class were by far the most supportive of gay marriage, with 94.4 percent in favor.
In contrast, 87.1 percent of the respondents in the upper class were in favor, representing the group least supportive of gay marriage. “Moral reasons,” followed by “constitutionality” and “family/personal reasons” were the most common factors influencing students opinions. Additionally, when asked how the people in their households felt about the issue 56.2 percent of respondents reported that their entire families shared the same opinions about the subject.
201 students identified as Democrats, the most represented affiliation, in the survey and 98 percent of them were in favor of LGBTQ marriage. The next most represented political affiliations were Undecided and Independent, polling 97.8 percent in favor and 94.5 percent in favor, respectively. Republicans were represented by 100 students, of which 68 percent were in favor. Sixteen students identified as “Other” for political affiliation, and 93.8 percent of them were in support of LGBTQ marriage.
However, respondents views may have been influenced by hometown sentiment, as from the respondents from the Northeastern United States, 50.1 percent described their hometowns as “accepting” of LGBTQ youth. Similarly, Northwestern hometowns were reported as most supportive, with 40 percent described as “very accepting.” In the Southeastern U.S., hometowns were equally described as accepting, unaccepting, and very unaccepting of LGBTQ+ youth at 24.4 percent each. The remaining 24.4 percent of applicants did not know how to describe their hometown’s sentiment.
Out of 31 respondents who identified as gay, 18 said that Andover is a safe place for LGBTQ students, but that there is still some discrimination. 14 out of the 31 respondents who identified as bisexual said that Andover was a very safe place for LGBTQ students, and 15 said that it was safe, but that there is still some discrimination. Those who identified as questioning or unsure had the same sentiment as those who identified as bisexual.
264 of the 490 respondents who identified as straight described Andover as very safe for LGBTQ students. Out of the 578 responses to the question, only 14 students indicated that Andover was either moderately unsafe or very unsafe for LGBTQ students. Nine of those students identified themselves as straight.
_Note: __An editor corrected a copy error on 04/05/2013 at 10:32 a.m. _The Phillipian _regrets the mistake._
