Jun 5, 2015
POLL: NC Support for Marriage Equality Reaches Record High, Equality NC Responds
Raleigh, N.C. (June 5, 2015) — A new poll released June 5 from NC-based Public Policy Polling has found record high support for same-sex marriage, 8 months after it became legal in the state. Voters are now almost evenly divided on the issue with 44% in support and 46% against it.
According to PPP, this "marks a massive shift in public sentiment over the last three years. In 2012 North Carolinians passed a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage by 22 points, 61/39. Last year we found that voters in the state still opposed it by 13 points at 40/53.
The big shift in attitudes may be a product of North Carolinians finding after gay marriage did become legal in the state that it just wasn't a big deal. 69% of voters in the state either say that its being legal has had a positive impact on their lives or no impact at all, with only 31% claiming it's had a negative effect."
Equality NC immediately responded to news of the poll, calling the results a part of the "dramatic momentum" in support of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) rights the statewide LGBT advocacy organization is seeing daily throughout the Tar Heel State.
“The movement for marriage equality is growing daily in North Carolina, and today more people in your town, your office, your neighborhood than not want loving, committed couples to be able to reap the true rewards and responsibilities of full and legal marriage,” said Chris Sgro, executive director of Equality NC.
“These latest polling results simply reflect the dramatic momentum in support of the LGBT community we see every day in every corner of the Tar Heel state, every single day.
Most importantly, this poll should signal a clarion call to North Carolina's leaders that the constituent demand for full LGBT equality is not an ‘if’ proposition, but a ‘when,' and any efforts to thwart this inevitability should be relegated to the dustbin of history."
The poll comes just as the North Carolina House considers a veto override of Senate Bill 2, that would allow magistrates and other state officials to excuse themselves from marrying same-sex couples and others.
Equality NC is a statewide organization working to secure equal rights and justice for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender North Carolinians.