Politics & Government
New Poll Suggests Majority of Virginians Support Gay Marriage
Poll indicates a majority of Virginia female, white and black voters, along with Democrats, now support same-sex marriage.
Virginia voters support same sex-marriage by 50-43 percent, according to a new poll Quinnipiac University released this week.
The Connecticut school polled 1,030 registered voters in Virginia from July 11 through July 15 with a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.
Here is a breakdown of support by demographic:
- Democrats support 68-25 percent
- Independents support 52-39 percent
- Republicans oppose 68-26 percent
- Women back same-sex marriage 55-39 percent
- Men are opposed 49-43 percent
- White voters support 51-43 percent
- Black voters oppose 48-42 percent
In June, the Supreme Court ruled that federal benefits should be extended to married gay couples.
The court did not decide on the legality of state bans like Virginia's. In a 5-4 majority, the court decided that a challenge to gay marriage in California failed on technical reasons limited to that case.
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Read more: Gay Marriage: Should Virginia Vote Again?
The Quinnipiac poll appears to be a shift from Virginians' attitude in 2006, when 57 percent of Virginia voters supported the state constitutional amendment banning gay marriage.
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Del. Scott Surovell (D-Fairfax) introduced legislation last year to repeal Virginia's gay marriage ban, but it failed in committee.
The ACLU's Rebecca Glenberg told Virginia Public Radio in June that the ACLU's lobbying arm will be reaching out to Virginia lawmakers regarding the state's ban.
Greg Hambrick contributed reporting to this story.
What do you think of the poll's results? Tell us in the comments below.
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