Saturday Data: Same Sex Marriage

    Just before the sought after attention to Alabama because of the 50th anniversary of the Selma to Montgomery march next month, the issue of same-sex marriage has turned an early international media spotlight on the state. 

     A Google News search under the words Alabama gay marriage returned almost five-million hits.

     Among the most recent is a People Magazine article titled "What It's Really Like to Live in Alabama".

Even though the polls show that the majority of people here don't believe in same-sex marriage, if you ask those same people, 'Do you believe that gay people should have family protections and be recognized?,' they'll say yes. It's all in the way you frame the question."

                                                                                                                People Magazine,  2015

      There has been coverage in all of the national newspapers and TV networks, but some public officials have struggled with what to say. 

    Republican Governor Robert Bentley said in one instance that Alabama is no longer the Alabama of the 1960's...that it is a law-abiding state. Yet he also said Probate Judges should follow their conscience in deciding whether to issue same-sex wedding certificates. 
     Earlier today, he told Politico he would obey federal court rulings.