47 percent of Virginians support gay marriage. Is that good news?
- Will Virginia's opinions on gays translate to the ballot box? (Photo: Jay Westcott)
Big gay news of the day: Virginians are now pretty much evenly split on the same-sex marriage issue. Today, 47 percent of Virginians stand in favor of legalizing gay marriage; 43 percent are opposed. The new poll numbers could mark a significant shift on the issue since 2006, when 57 percent of the state voted to ban all gay unions in its constitution. The Washington Post called this a "striking" and "dramatic" change.
Is it?
Glancing at the flip side: Less than half of Virginians agree that gay people should have basic rights. The state lags behind the wider U.S., where 53 percent of people support marriage equality. And we don't even know where the final ten percent of state residents stand in the Post poll. Have they made a striking and dramatic shift toward not not supporting gay rights?
How much good is this all going to do Virginia gays on election day, anyway? The state can't even claim a majority of residents who support gay marriage over the phone, much less in a voting booth. Young Virginians overwhelmingly support marriage equality, but they don't vote like old people do [PDF]. And what Virginia's anti-gay-rights set lacks in numbers, it makes up for in enthusiasm. According to the Post, "about 30 percent of all Virginians 'strongly' support gay marriage, and 35 percent oppose it just as adamantly."
Hardly anyone voted in Virginia in 2006, but those that did likely came out specifically to stop gays from getting hitched. Right now, 47 percent support for gay marriage is a nice thought, and that's about all it is.
5 Comments
Norton South
Who grow fewer and fewer in number. Not too many people still trying to keep black kids out of white schools, are there?
Guliel
Gay marriage is not a popularity issue to be decided by the voting public, it's a civil rights issue to be decided by legislature and the courts.
BrickedInDC
Translation: Whenever a subject is brought to court that I don't like, I hope and pray the courts smash it down. Whenever a subject is brought to court that I like, I yell and scream about how overpowerful and corrupt the Judges are
Real Name
"Young Virginians overwhelmingly support marriage equality, but they don't vote like old people do." And old people die and stop voting, while young people become old people and vote more.
Amanda Hess
And their anti-gay-rights peers become even more committed to preventing change.
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