Polling Michigan on "Gay Issues"

Apparently Michiganders are slowly coming around on gay rights. There was an article in the Free Press that reported that a recently polls showed some interesting tidbits:

• 63.7% support civil unions (only 46.5% accept same-sex marriage, with 48% opposed to it)
  
• 57.5% support adoption rights
  
• 65.5% support same-sex partner benefits for government employees
  
• 70.9% support inheritance rights for gay and lesbian partners

And yet the 2004 proposition that amended Michigan's constitution to prohibit same-sex marriage, passed 61% to 24%.What is going on here??? Do the people represented in the poll not vote? Are they not really honest with pollsters? Has there really been that large a shift in public opinion?

In any event, this information really convinces me of two things (okay, I was already convinced, this just reinforces it):

1. While folks are feeling so open-minded I can think of some legislation that should be passed:

• the safe schools/anti-bullying law: school is so hard for some kids for so many reasons and with two young boys recently taking their own lives because they could no longer cope with harassment from their fellow students...we as a nation and we as a state need to be collectively outraged enough to protect our children
• nondiscrimination laws (and enforcement) need to protect LGBT persons from losing their housing and jobs
  

2. Government should not be in the business of marriages. If, for tax and other purposes, we must recognize unions between couples, let's just have civil unions for everyone. If folks want to get married, they can see their appropriate religious or social authority.