A newly released poll shows
Chicago-area residents evenly divided on gay marriage.
The new poll, released Monday by windy
city daily The Chicago Tribune, shows an equal number of
respondents (42%) for and against the legalization of gay marriage.
Another 15 percent have no opinion.
Suburban dwellers are more likely to
oppose gay marriage. Forty-six percent of Chicago-area suburbanites
oppose the institution, 40 percent approve and 14 percent have no
opinion.
Support is greater for recognizing gay
and lesbian couples with civil unions, with 54 percent in agreement
and 33 percent opposed.
TimeOut Chicago criticized the
paper for giving greater emphasis in its reporting to opponents of
gay unions.
“The Trib article ends with
the same emphasis with which it begins: 'there remains a substantial
portion of the population that considers same-sex relationships to be
morally wrong.' That 'substantial portion,' according to the Trib,
is 37 percent Oh, by the way: The percentage who don't hold that
view is 50 percent – um, an even more 'substantial portion,' if my
first-grade math is correct,” Novid
Parsi wrote at the website's blog.
Gay marriage in Illinois, considered a
progressive state, remains well out of reach for proponents.
However, many gay rights advocates believe the state is ready to
approve a civil unions bill.
A recent nationwide poll conducted by
CNN
found for the first time a slim majority (50.5 %) of Americans in
support of gay marriage.