Large Majority Of Mainers Say Gay Marriage Is Not Adversely Impacting Their Lives

A large majority of Mainers say gay marriage is not adversely impacting their lives, a new survey has found.

According to a Public Policy Polling survey of 1,268 Maine voters conducted between January 18 and 20, seventy-eight percent of respondents said allowing gay and lesbian couples to marry has either had no impact or a positive impact on their lives.

On November 6, Maine became the first state to legalize marriage equality thought a vote of the people.

“78% percent of Maine voters – including a majority of people who voted against it in November – say that gay marriage being legal in the state is not having an adverse impact on their lives,” Dean Debnam, president of Public Policy Polling, said in releasing the poll's findings. “For all the debate over the years it's turning out not to be a big deal for the vast majority of voters in the state.”

Seventeen percent of respondents said the law has had a positive impact on their lives, while sixty-one percent said it was having no impact at all. Twenty-two percent said marriage equality was having a negative impact on their lives.