ACLU Update on the Fair is Fair Campaign
The following is an update from Montana ACLU on the Fair is Fair campaign in Montana:
Today the ACLU appealed a Montana District Court decision dismissing the same-sex domestic partnership case, Donaldson and Guggenheim v. State of Montana, to the Montana Supreme Court. The Montana Constitution guarantees that all people, including gay and lesbian couples, should be treated equally and fairly. The case presents fundamental issues of privacy and equal protection that need to be resolved by Montana’s highest court.
Most Montanans favor domestic partnership. A newly-released poll conducted by Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research for the American Civil Liberties Union found that 53% of Montana voters favor allowing gay and lesbian couples to enter into domestic partnerships.
55% of Catholics support domestic partnership, according to this poll, and so do a number of other faith leaders – 68 Montana clergy members including rabbis, Episcopal priests, Protestant pastors and others have already signed a statement of support.
2010 census data shows a 55% increase in same-sex-couple households compared to 2000 data. Demographers speculate that this increased reporting of same-sex households may reflect an increase in acceptance of same-sex couples and a consequent increase in their willingness to report themselves as such. One in four same-sex households also report that they are raising children under the age of 18.
