Asian-Americans in California overwhelmingly oppose a ballot measure that would ban gay marriage in the state, according to a ground-breaking survey released today.
The poll found that 57 percent of Asian-Americans likely to vote in the Nov. 4 election oppose Proposition 8, which would reverse last spring's California Supreme Court ruling that gave gays and lesbians the right to marry. Only 32 percent planned to vote for the measure, with 11 percent undecided.
The California survey, part of a larger national poll released last week, was conducted by researchers at the University of California-Berkeley, UC-Riverside, the University of Southern California and Rutgers University.
The data released today was strictly from California, where one of three Asian-Americans live.
About 1,100 Asian-Americans in the state were interviewed by telephone in eight languages from Aug. 18 to Sept. 26. The survey was the largest scientific poll of Asian-American voters ever done — both nationally and in California.
The National Asian-American Survey also showed that Asian-Americans support Democrat Barack Obama over Republican candidate John McCain by a substantial margin. Nationally, Obama was backed by 41 percent of Asian-American voters and McCain was supported by 24 percent, with 34 percent undecided. In California, the figures were almost identical: 42 percent for Obama, 24 percent for McCain and 33 percent undecided.
In some ways, the lopsided opinion of Proposition 8 was surprising because many Asian-Americans have traditionally been less tolerant of homosexuality. One big reason: Many emigrated from countries where homosexuality is less tolerated.
Although Asian literature is sprinkled with centuries-old allusions to men having sex with men, or women having sex with women, many Asian societies tend to ignore homosexuality or even deny that it exists — although those attitudes are beginning to change in countries such as Vietnam and China that are rapidly being Westernized.
Experts in Asian-American voting trends attribute the lopsided opinion of Proposition 8 to the ability gay-marriage proponents to frame it as a major civil rights issue.
"The measure certainly has civil rights overtones to it,'' said Karthick Ramakrishnan, an associate political science professor at the University of California-Riverside who is a member of the survey's research team. Asian-Americans, he and other political scientists note, have historically been discriminated against and even, in the case of Japanese-Americans during World War II, thrown into internment camps. So Asian-Americans tend to be more sensitive than other Americans to laws that exclude certain groups, Ramakrishnan said.
"In the '80s and '90s,'' he said, most Asian-Americans considered homosexuality "more of an issue of fundamental morality.''
Many opponents of Proposition 8 — the only California ballot measure included in the voter survey — say the results don't surprise them.
"If there is one community that is extraordinarily sensitive to the dangers of the government treating one group differently than another, it would be the Asian-American community,'' said Steve Smith, manager of the statewide campaign opposing Proposition 8.
In September 2007, proponents of same-sex marriage point out, a coalition of 60 Asian-American organizations filed a legal brief in support of marriage rights for gay and lesbian couples. More of Survey: Asian-Americans overwhelmingly support gay marriage
San Jose Mercury News - CA, USA
No comments:
Post a Comment