A majority of Virginian voters support
civil unions, not marriage, for gay and lesbian couples, a new survey
found.
According to a Public
Policy Polling survey released last week, a majority (53%) of
respondents oppose the legalization of gay marriage, while 34 percent
approve. Thirteen percent refused to answer.
When pollsters asked, “Which of the
following best describes your opinion on gay marriage: gay couples
should be allowed to legally marry, or gay couples should be allowed
to form civil unions but not legally marry, or there should be no
legal recognition of a gay couple's relationship?” support for gay
marriage dropped to 31 percent.
But a majority of voters (59%) said
they supported marriage (31%) or civil unions (28%) for gay couples.
Thirty-eight percent said there should be no legal recognition and 3
percent refused to answer.
Democrats lead in support of gay unions
with 70 percent, followed by 66% of independent and 39% of
Republicans.
Six hundred Virginia voters were
surveyed between December 10th to 12th, and the
poll has a margin of error of 4.0 percent.
(Related: West
Virginia Delegate John Doyle plans civil unions bill.)