The Human Rights Campaign, in partnership with Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research, has released a poll that showes the House Republicans are — surprise — out of step with the American public. From the press release via email:

Overall, voters say they oppose the Defense of Marriage Act – 51 percent oppose the law and 34 percent favor it.  Independent voters, who were instrumental in the Republican House takeover, oppose this law by a 52 percent to 34 percent margin.  Additionally when read statements for and against defending the law in court, 54 percent of voters oppose the House Republicans’ intervention, while only 32 percent support it.  Poll results are available at www.hrc.org/DOMApoll2011.

DOMA prohibits the federal government from granting married same-sex couples things like Social Security survivor benefits, health insurance for federal employees’ spouses, joint tax filing, family and medical leave and other critical protections.  When asked if they favor or oppose some of these benefits for gay and lesbian couples who have been legally married, voters responded: on Social Security survivor benefits, 60 favor, 34 oppose; on federal employee health benefits for spouses, 58 percent favor, 36 percent oppose; on protecting spouses from losing their homes in cases of severe medical emergencies or death, 64 percent favor, 28 percent oppose; and on avoiding tax penalties by filing joint tax returns as a married couple, 55 percent favor, 38 percent oppose.

“The debate over DOMA isn’t about whether you favor marriage equality, it’s about whether the government can pick and choose which marriages they like, and which they don’t,” said HRC President Joe Solmonese.  ”With five states and DC granting marriage licenses to same-sex couples, it’s time the federal government stop playing favorites and instead create an equal playing field for all families.”

On Wednesday, leaders in the House and Senate will introduce the “Respect for Marriage Act” – a bill to repeal DOMA and open up the benefits, protections and obligations of marriage under federal law to same-sex couples legally married in states that have ended their exclusion from marriage.

Last Wednesday, Speaker John Boehner announced that the House would intervene to defend DOMA in court, following a Justice Department announcement that the administration believes the law to be unconstitutional.  At least nine cases are challenging DOMA spanning three appellate courts and four district courts in six states.  The Speaker’s announcement did not make clear if they will intervene in all of the cases, who will represent the House, how much the defense will cost, what their arguments for the law will be or other critical issues.  More background on DOMA and the unanswered questions is at www.hrc.org/DOMApoll2011.

“When it comes to defending DOMA, House Republicans are wrong on the policy and wrong on the politics,” said Solmonese.  ”It’s mind boggling that Republican leaders would so misread the tea leaves in their urgent effort to score some cheap and temporary political points.”

…The telephone survey, including cell phones, was conducted 3/8/11 through 3/10/11 among 800 registered voters.  It has a margin of error of +/- 3.46 percent.  The results of the poll, including the questionnaire, a memo on the findings and charts, are available at: www.hrc.org/DOMApoll2011.