Oregon voters narrowly favor legalizing
equal marriage rights for gay and lesbian couples.
According to a Public
Polling Policy (PPP) survey of 686 voters conducted between June
21 and 24, 46 percent of respondents support legalizing gay nuptials,
while 45 percent remain opposed.
A large majority (74%) of voters in the
Beaver state support legal recognition of gay unions with either
marriage (44%) or civil unions (30%). Twenty-three percent say there
should be no legal recognition of the relationships of gay couples.
Eighty percent of Republicans say they
oppose marriage equality, while 11 percent support it. A majority of
Democrats (74%) support it. And independents are more divided, with
48 percent opposed and 38 percent in favor.
Late last year, gay marriage advocates
in Oregon decided against an effort to put the state's gay marriage
ban up for a vote in 2012.
Basic Rights Oregon held several town
hall style meetings and conducted an online survey on the issue
before deciding against pursuing the effort because “we don't yet
have the kind of consensus that would indicate a reasonable
expectation of success.”