A majority of Utahns oppose marriage
equality and support passage of a statewide non-discrimination law, a
poll has found.
The poll, conducted by Dan Jones and
Associates and commissioned by UtahPolicy.com and Zions Bank, found
61 percent of respondents support Amendment 3, the state's voter
approved constitutional amendment defining marriage as a heterosexual
union, while 29 percent said they oppose the ban.
Fifty percent of adults under 24 said
they support marriage equality.
In June, a federal appeals court struck
down the amendment as invalid. State officials have appealed the
ruling to the Supreme Court.
“So it's a two-to-one margin against
same-sex marriage,” Bryan Schott, managing editor of
UtahPolicy.com, told CBS
affiliate KUTV.
State Senator Jim Dabakis, who is
openly gay, questioned the poll's results.
“Utah Policy is owned by a lobbyist
and so when I see this big difference between the Utah Policy poll
and the poll by BYU and the poll by the [Salt Lake] Tribune, which
were pretty close, I just wonder was there anything other than the
numbers there,” he said.
The survey also found strong support
(59%) for passage of a measure which would prohibit employment and
housing discrimination based on sexual orientation.