A second poll has found that a majority
of Virginians approve of gay marriage.
According to a
survey released Thursday by the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) and
conducted by the Democratic polling firm Greenberg Quinlan Rosner and
the Republican firm Target Point Consulting, 55 percent of Virginians
support gay nuptials, while 41 percent remain opposed.
A previous The Washington Post
poll conducted in May also found majority (56%) support for marriage
equality.
In Thursday's poll, support was highest
(68%) in Northern Virginia, which borders the District of Columbia, a
2009 entry in the marriage equality column. Sixty-three percent of
Western Virginians oppose the state recognizing gay couples with
marriage.
In 2006, voters overwhelmingly (57-43%)
approved a constitutional amendment which prohibits the state from
recognizing any union other than a heterosexual marriage.
The poll comes a day after the ACLU and
Lambda Legal announced plans to file a lawsuit challenging the
constitutionality of the amendment.
(Related: Gay
marriage advocates file suits in Pennsylvania, Virginia, North
Carolina.)
Nearly three out of four respondents
said that they favor laws outlawing workplace discrimination based on
sexual orientation at the state or federal level. Currently,
Virginia does not have such a law.