Gay rights interest low in poll

For BYU student Marinda Larson, gay marriage "goes against how God intended us to live."

For 11-year-old Olivia White, it would mean her two moms could stop living "in sin" and become a legally protected family.

The question of who can marry whom will be up to voters in November, when they decide whether to amend the Utah Constitution with a definition of marriage as a union between a man and a woman.

Lawmakers put the proposed amendment on the ballot during the 2004 session where gay marriage was one of the most hotly debated issues. And while many in Utah seem to have an opinion on the matter, "gay rights" ranked last in importance among 17 issues listed in a Utah Foundation poll of registered voters, who ranked issues in this year's gubernatorial election.

Public education, jobs and water were given the highest priorities in the poll of 604 Utahns.

"It tells me that people don't view (gay marriage) as a political issue. They view it as a social issue," said Janice Houston, director of research at Utah Foundation. "That's not to say an amendment to the state constitution won't pass."

Indeed, many backers of the amendment say passage is a forgone conclusion. But that confidence hasn't deterred opponents from making plans to educate voters that the issue is as much a matter of civil rights and fairness as it is sexual preference.

Matter of priority

Among those polled by the foundation, Republicans, members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and political conservatives were more likely to place a high priority on gay rights, Houston said.

The poll did not ask voters how they felt about an issue but only to rank its importance.

Houston said 227 of the 604 Utah residents polled considered gay rights to be either a neutral issue, a priority issue or a high-priority issue. On a scale of 1 to 5, with five being the highest, those respondents rated hate-crimes legislation with a mean of 4.02 and same-sex marriage with a mean of 3.54, she said.

Michael Mitchell, spokesman for the proactive gay group Equality Utah, said this poll seems to indicate "most Utahns are willing to live and let live. The fact that this issue is dead last completely flies in the face of the reason legislators made gay issues (a priority)," he said. "This says to me that legislators are out of touch with the electorate."

But Sen. Chris Buttars, R-West Jordan, said he's sure that gay issues are a priority to Utahns.