Marriage Equality, Transgender Medical Access Poll Well in Jersey

Marriage Equality, Transgender Medical Access Poll Well in Jersey

By: PAUL SCHINDLER | In a Zogby poll of 803 likely New Jersey voters taken August 7 to 11, 59 percent said they would “be fine with” public officials legislating full marriage equality for same-sex couples in the state. Thirty-six percent voiced opposition. Even when reminded specifically that the state already has a civil union scheme in place, the response to a 2006 state Supreme Court ruling, voters polled preferred full marriage rights 50.1 to 42.3 percent. Fully 69 percent of New Jerseyans said marriage equality is inevitable in the state.

Garden State Equality, the state's LGBT rights lobby, commissioned the poll, but emphasized that Zogby collected the data independently.

A clear majority of respondents – 52.6 percent – said insurance companies unfairly discriminate against transgendered people by not covering the medical treatments vital to gender transition. 52.6 percent said this denial by insurance companies is unfair, while only 35.8 percent said it is fair. This poll is likely the first ever to ask about this issue.

Though New Jersey has nondiscrimination, hate crime, and school bullying laws that all encompass gender identity and expression, a number of insurance companies operating in the state refuse to cover medical treatments for trans people that doctors deem vital. The American Medical Association has said such denials are discriminatory, Garden State Equality noted.