Of voters surveyed, 55 percent indicated they would uphold a Legislature-approved same-sex marriage law if it were challenged by referendum. The poll found 38 percent would oppose the law and 7 percent were undecided.
However, additional questions in the poll found that 44 percent of voters surveyed said gays and lesbians should have the same legal right as straight couples to marry; and 22 percent said they should have the same legal rights as married couples, but it should not be called marriage.
Seventeen percent said there should be no legal recognition of gay and lesbian couples. The wide-ranging poll touched on several other issues, including the state budget shortfall.
The Washington Poll surveyed 938 registered voters statewide from Oct. 10-30. It has a plus or minus 3.2 percentage points margin of error.There are anti-gay marriage ballot measures qualified for the 2012 election in Minnesota and North Carolina.
There are likely to be pro-gay marriages ballot measures in Maine, Maryland, Washington and possibly Oregon.
I predict that there will be more Americans living under marriage equality laws at he end of 2012 than at the end of 2011.
