Poll finds growing support for gay unions

WASHINGTON, Oct. 10 (UPI) -- Attitudes toward same-sex marriage have become significantly more favorable in three politically important states that previously opposed it, a poll indicates.

Approximately half of voters in Florida, Ohio and Virginia now say same-sex couples should be allowed to marry, a dramatic shift over the past eight years, The Washington Post reported Tuesday based on surveys by conducted in September.

In Florida, 54 percent of voters said same-sex marriage should be legal, and 33 percent said it should be illegal. In 2008, 62 percent of Florida voters backed a state constitutional amendment limiting same-sex marriage.

Some 49 percent of Virginia voters said in the September poll they supported same-sex marriage, while 40 percent were opposed. Six years ago, 57 percent of Virginian votes supported legislation that defined marriage as between a man and a woman. A Post poll of Virginia voters this past May found many people had changed their mind -- 46 percent said then same-sex marriage should be legal and 43 percent opposed it.

Some 52 percent of Ohio voters gave the nod to same-sex marriage in September, while 37 percent said it should be unlawful. In 2004, 62 percent of voters in that state supported an amendment banning gay marriage.

The telephone survey of a random sampling of 1,107 adults in Florida and 1,101 adults in Ohio was conducted Sept. 19-23. Margin of error of the full sampling was plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.

Polling information from the Virginia survey was not reported.