Article archive / June 1, 2016
Originally published: . Volume 7, No. 6. Source pages: 5.
Opposition to Same-sex Marriage Still Strong in La
In a survey of 1,001 adults in Louisiana, the Reilly Center for Media & Public Affairs found that while the law has changed, public opinion has not, in regard to same-sex marriage.
The Reilly Center, part of the Louisiana State University Manship School of Mass Communication published it 2016 Report in April. The researchers found that just over half, or 53 percent, of Louisiana citizens “oppose legal recognition of same sex marriage, despite the U.S. Supreme Court ruling a year ago that states cannot refuse to recognize such marriages.” Forty-one percent support same-sex marriage.
The Louisiana Psychological Association, under the umbrella of the American Psychological Association, submitted an Amicus brief in 2014, when officials in the state were involved in a lawsuit about same-sex marriage: Robicheaux, et al, and the Forum for Equality Louisiana, v. the Louisiana Attorney General, State Registrar and Center Director of DHH, Secretary of Health & Hospitals, Kathy Kliebert, and others.
Also listed as Amici Curiae were the American Psychiatric Association, American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy, National Association of Social Workers, and the National Association of Social Workers Louisiana Chapter.
The Reilly Center also found that about half of residents (53 percent) believe that businesses providing wedding services should be allowed to refuse service to same- sex couples.
The Reilly Center found Louisiana citizens to be consistently conservative; 55 percent would like all abortions to be illegal in most or all cases, while 40 percent think it should be legal, a mirror image researchers say, when compared with national norms. About two-thirds (68 percent) are against allowing refugees from Syria to settle in Louisiana, 61 percent oppose a ban on assault weapons, and 73 oppose removing monuments of those who fought in the Civil War on the side of the Confederacy.
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