Virginians now supporting gay marriage

[Anonymous]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/politics/virginians-are-almost-evenly-split-on-gay-marriage-post-poll-finds/2011/05/06/AFFtojcG_story.html

In five years it is quite a dramatic shift. I read another poll that showed a similar shift occurring nationally as well although I don't recall the exact numbers.

It's really a matter of time, whether it is five or 25. It is going to happen.

[Anonymous]

While it's encouraging, I don't put much stock in a poll of "Virginians" versus a poll of registered/likely voters. At the end of the day if half those people aren't going to show up at the polls not much is going to change any time soon.

[Anonymous]

Maybe. But the dramatic change on poll results in just five years means that attitudes are shifting very quckly. It is the trend that is most interesting. I think the Pew Forum saw the same thing nationally.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:While it's encouraging, I don't put much stock in a poll of "Virginians" versus a poll of registered/likely voters. At the end of the day if half those people aren't going to show up at the polls not much is going to change any time soon.

Other than Northern Virginia, it is mostly a conservative state. There may be a few scattered areas in other parts of the state that are liberal but conservatives, particularly religious conservatives make it a point to vote and same-sex marriage has little, if any, support in this constituency. A civil union, maybe, but not same-sex marriage.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/politics/virginians-are-almost-evenly-split-on-gay-marriage-post-poll-finds/2011/05/06/AFFtojcG_story.html

In five years it is quite a dramatic shift. I read another poll that showed a similar shift occurring nationally as well although I don't recall the exact numbers.

It's really a matter of time, whether it is five or 25. It is going to happen.

Polls like this aren't very reliable. They tend to find what the pollsters want to hear. Polls are used to shape public opinion not reflect it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/politics/virginians-are-almost-evenly-split-on-gay-marriage-post-poll-finds/2011/05/06/AFFtojcG_story.html

In five years it is quite a dramatic shift. I read another poll that showed a similar shift occurring nationally as well although I don't recall the exact numbers.

It's really a matter of time, whether it is five or 25. It is going to happen.

Polls like this aren't very reliable. They tend to find what the pollsters want to hear. Polls are used to shape public opinion not reflect it.

I don't buy this response. The fact is that they are asking the same question year after year. Something is changing in public attitudes. For example, you can see in this Pew Forum study that there is a consistent trend upward, and it's not because of the pollster's wording. The questions are the same, it's the responses that are changing.

http://pewforum.org/Gay-Marriage-and-Homosexuality/Support-For-Same-Sex-Marriage-Edges-Upward.aspx