A majority of New Yorkers support a gay
marriage law scheduled to take effect on July 25.
Governor Andrew Cuomo signed the
legislation into law on Friday after it cleared the
Republican-controlled Senate, the highest hurdle the measure needed
to clear, making the Empire State the most populous state yet to
legalize gay marriage.
According to a
Quinnipiac University poll released Tuesday, 54 percent of
registered voters in the state support the move and 40 percent do
not.
A large majority (70%) of voters under
35 support the measure, but a majority (57%) of voters over 65 oppose
the law. Voters 35 to 64 also support the law.
“Throughout the down-to-the-wire
drama and the narrow margin in the State Senate, voter support for
same-sex marriage has been consistent,” said Maurice Carroll,
director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute.
A near-majority (49/42) of voters in
conservative upstate New York, where Republicans tend to fare better,
also approve of the governor's plan.
While white Catholics split 48-to-48
percent on the issue, a large majority (67%) of Jews support it, but
white Protestants oppose the measure 54-to-40 percent.
“On gay marriage, many of the people
in the pews split with their bishops,” Carroll said.