A new poll
released Wednesday shows that for the first time in three
decades registered California voters approve of allowing
same-sex couples to marry -- by a margin of 51% to 42%
-- a flip from the last poll taken in 2006, when
voters disapproved of gay marriage 50% to 44%.
The nonpartisan
California Field Poll of 1,052 registered voters,
conducted May 17-26, with a 3.2% margin of error,
also found voters were leery of the proposed ballot
initiative that would amend the state constitution to
define marriage as only between a man and a woman, with
54% opposing the measure and 40% favoring it.
The electorate is
sharply divided in opinion by age, gender, religion,
and political ideology. Californians aged 18-29 favor
same-sex marriage by more than a 2-to-1 margin (68% to
25%), and those 30-39 also strongly support
marriage (58% to 34%), while voters 65 and older disapprove
of extending marriage rights by an equally strong
margin, 55% to 36%.
Men and women
differ on the issue, with men about evenly divided,
while women favor marriage equality by a margin of 14
percentage points.
Protestants
largely disapprove of same-sex marriage, with 57%
opposed, while Catholics are more evenly divided on the
issue. Respondents who said they were religious but
did not identify as Catholic or Protestant favored
same-sex marriage 61% to 33%. Those who claimed
no religious affiliation viewed marriage equality even more
charitably, with 81% in favor.
Those identifying
as "strongly conservative"
and "strongly liberal" proved polar opposites,
with the former group opposed 85%-11% and
the latter in favor by precisely the same margin.
Meanwhile, voters who identified as
"middle-of-the-road" politically
supported allowing gay couples to marry 53% to 35%. (The
Advocate)
