Sixty percent of people in North
Carolina oppose a proposed constitutional amendment which would ban
gay marriage in the state, a new poll has found.
While only 38 percent of respondents to
an Elon
University Poll released Monday said they support gay marriage, a
majority (60%) said they are opposed to Amendment One, while 32
percent said that they favor the amendment. A majority of
respondents (67%) favor either marriage (38%) or civil unions (29%)
for gay couples. Only 29 percent say gay couples deserve no legal
recognition.
Voters will decide on the measure
during North Carolina's May 8 primary.
If approved, the amendment would bar
North Carolina from recognizing the relationships of gay and lesbian
couples with marriage, civil unions and possibly domestic
partnerships.
Support for the amendment has fallen 6
percent since the poll's February findings.
“These results reflect what's
occurring nationwide,” said John Robinson, director of
communications for the Elon University Poll. “Opposition to any
legal recognition for same-sex couples has been on the decline for a
year and support for full marriage rights has been increasing. Our
results suggest that the majority of North Carolinians do not want
same-sex marriages and domestic partnerships banned in the state
constitution. Further, it appears that citizens support at least
some kind of legal recognition for same-sex couples, either civil
unions or marriages.”
The poll surveyed 534 North Carolina
residents and has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.24 percentage
points.