More than 8 in 10 adults say whether a
politician is gay wouldn't make a difference in how they vote.
According to a McClatchy-Marist poll of
1,035 adults released Thursday, 83 percent of respondents said a
candidate's sexual orientation wouldn't make a difference in whether
they voted for him or her.
That's a large increase in support
since a 1985 Los Angeles Times survey found less than half
(49%) of respondents saying it would make no difference. In that
poll, 47% said they would be less likely to vote for an openly gay
candidate.
A majority (54%) of Americans support
marriage equality, according to the poll.
Pollsters also found that 60 percent of
Republicans would be either “very upset” (23%) or “upset”
(37%) to learn their child was gay, while only 28 percent of
Democrats would be either “very upset” or “upset” if their
child came out.
Lee Miringoff, the director of the
Marist Institute for Public Opinion in New York, said the poll shows
a “sea change in attitude.”
“You'd be hard-pressed to find an
issue that has had a bigger shift in public opinion,” he
added.