A new survey has found that a majority
of Nevadans support gay marriage.
According to a poll commissioned by the
Retail Association of Nevada (RAN) and conducted by Public Opinion
Strategies, 54 percent of respondents said they support marriage
equality, while 43 percent remain opposed. Respondents who
identified themselves as deeply conservative remain overwhelmingly
opposed (76%).
“If you just go back 10 years, would
same-sex marriage pass in Nevada? No way,” RAN spokesman Jim
Denton told the Nevada
Appeal. “What that poll says to me is this is not the same
state it was even 10 years ago.”
The poll is believed to be the first to
document majority support for marriage equality in the Silver State.
In contrast, a Public Policy Polling
survey released in August found 47 percent of Nevada voters in favor
of such unions, and 42 percent against.
Nevada voters approved a constitutional
amendment defining marriage as a heterosexual union in 2002.
In 2009, lawmakers overrode former
Republican Governor Jim Gibbons' veto to approve a gay-inclusive
domestic partnership law which offers couples limited guaranteed
benefits associated with marriage.