Poll: Md. majority support same-sex unions

ANNAPOLIS, Md., Jan. 17 (UPI) -- A majority of likely voters in Maryland support legalization of same-sex unions, a new poll indicated.

The telephone survey of 904 Maryland voters, conducted Jan. 6-9, found 19 percent support the legalization of gay marriage and an additional 39 percent said they support same-sex civil unions -- bringing the total number of those supporting state-recognized same-sex relationships to nearly three out of five, The Baltimore Sun reported Thursday.

Meanwhile, 31 percent of respondents said they do not support either form of same-sex unions, and half of that amount said they support a constitutional amendment banning the practice. Eleven percent of those polled said they are undecided or declined to answer.

"This is a state that is much more open-minded to a legal arrangement between two people of the same sex, whether they call it marriage or civil unions," said Steve Raabe, president of OpinionWorks, the Annapolis, Md., firm that conducted the poll. "It's not a state characterized by a large evangelical constituency but rather a more liberal electorate."