Voters split on gay marriage

Voters are split on gay marriage in the wake of a Supreme Court ruling last month legalizing it in all 50 states, according to an Associated Press-GfK poll.

The poll found 42 percent of voters support gay marriage, while 40 percent oppose it.

Similarly, 47 percent of the poll’s respondents said local officials should be required to issue same-sex marriage licenses, even if they have religious objections to the practice, while 49 percent said officials who are personally opposed to gay marriage should be exempt from the new requirements.

Asked directly about their opinion of the Supreme Court’s ruling, 39 percent of the poll’s respondents said they approved of the Justices’ decision, and 41 percent said they disapproved.

Support for gay marriage in the poll broke heavily along party lines. Sixty-five percent of Democrats said they favored same-sex marriages, while only 22 percent of Republicans did.

Similarly, 72 percent of Democrats said officials should not be exempt from issuing licenses because of religious exemptions, which only 31 percent of Republicans believed that.

Democrats said it was more important to protect gay marriage rights than religious liberties by a 64-32 percent margin, according to the report, while Republicans favored the opposite by an 82-17 percent margin.

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