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.