Poll finds majority of Californians for marriage equality

For the first time in its three decades of polling on the issue the Field Poll, a survey administered by the non-partisan Field Research Coalition, found a majority of California voters in support of same-sex marriage. The survey, released May 28, found that 51 percent approved allowing same-sex couples to marry, compared to 42 percent who opposed it. That survey contrasts with a Los Angeles Times/KTLA poll released May 23, just over a week after the California marriage decision, showing a bare majority opposed to same-sex marriage.

The most recent Field Poll delivered more good news for marriage equality supporters, showing a majority of voters opposed to the November ballot initiative to amend the state constitution to ban same-sex marriage. Between 51 and 54 percent of voters opposed the amendment, depending on how the question was asked, while only between 40 and 43 percent supported it. Past Field Polls have shown similar results. In February 2004, when San Francisco was making headlines worldwide for granting marriage licenses to same-sex couples, and in May 2004, when the first same-sex couples began marrying in Massachusetts, a majority of California voters said they opposed a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage. A majority also opposed an amendment in February 2006.

Those numbers also differ from the L.A. Times poll, which found a 54 percent majority in favor of the amendment, compared to 35 percent opposed.

In November 2003, shortly after the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court issued its Goodridge decision both the Boston Herald and the Boston Globe/WBZ TV conducted polls finding a plurality and a bare majority respectively in favor of same-sex marriage. Both polls also found a majority opposed to a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage, although lawmakers defeated several proposed amendments before they could go to the voters. The marriage decision did not appear to have a substantial impact on public opinion in the immediate aftermath of the ruling; in April of that same year a Globe/WBZ poll also found a bare majority in favor of same-sex marriage.