A majority of Coloradans support
legalizing gay marriage, a new survey has found.
According to a poll of 542 Colorado
voters released Friday by Public Polling Policy, 53 percent of
respondents support the institution, while 40 percent say marriage
should remain a union exclusive to heterosexual couples.
An overwhelming number of respondents
also preferred marriage (47%) over civil unions (28%) for gay
couples. Only 22 percent said there should be no legal recognition
whatsoever for the relationships of gay couples.
“Colorado is another in a growing
number of states where polls show voters are rapidly shifting towards
supporting legal gay marriage,” Dean Debnam, president of Public
Policy Polling, said
in releasing the poll's findings.
A bill which would recognize gay
couples with civil unions was reintroduced last month in the Colorado
House, where a Republican-controlled committee killed a similar bill
last year after the Senate gave its approval.
According to the survey, a large
majority of voters support passage of the bill by a 62-32 margin.
Lawmakers are barred from pursuing
marriage for gay couples due to a 2006 voter-approved constitutional
amendment which defines marriage as a heterosexual union.