A new Quinnipiac University poll shows
a large majority (82%) of Connecticut voters approve of gay unions.
A large number (43%) of voters approved of gay marriage, while
another thirty-nine percent approve of civil unions. And a slim
majority (52%) agree with a state Supreme Court decision legalizing
gay marriage there. That's a 10% increase in overall gay union
approval from a similar poll conducted in February 2007.
Connecticut became the third state to
allow gay marriage on October 10 when the Connecticut Supreme Court
announced that gay couples have the right to marry, just five months
after the California Supreme Court concluded the same. Massachusetts
gay and lesbian couples won the right to marry in May of 2004.
A California voter-approved
constitutional amendment re-banned the practice in November, leaving
only two states offering gay marriage today.
The new poll finds it unlikely that
Connecticut voters will follow California's lead: A large majority of
voters say they strongly oppose amending their constitution to ban
gay marriage (61% appose, 33% support).
“Connecticut voters are not in love
with same-sex marriage,” said poll director Douglas Schwartz. “But
four out of five voters support some legal recognition for same-sex
unions and by almost two-to-one, voters do not want to change the
state constitution to ban same-sex marriage.”
But gay marriage proponents disagreed
with that statement, saying: “Barack Obama won the presidential
election with the same 52 percent margin and his election results
have been interpreted as a clear mandate for change,” Love Makes a
Family President Anne Stanback told The Associated Press. “We
view the poll results similarly ... Connecticut voters, by a clear
majority, support marriage equality for same-sex couples.”
Younger voters agreed by the widest
margin (18-34 years, 62%) that gay and lesbian couples deserve the
right to marry, while older voters disapproved the most (55+, 68%).