Petition favoring same-sex marriage sent to Utah attorney general

SALT LAKE CITY, Jan. 14 (UPI) -- Utah same-sex marriage supporters sent a petition to the state attorney general, protesting the state's effort to fight a court ruling legalizing the unions.

The 32-000-signature online petition, sent to Attorney General Sean Reyes Monday, mentions the estimated $2 million cost of the legal battle to retain Amendment 3, Utah's ban on same-sex marriage, and asks Reyes not to use the money of taxpayers who oppose the ban.

"To use taxpayer money for something that is a religious matter is a violation of the separation of church and state," the petition reads in part.

Two similar petitions, with a total of 58,000 signatures, were delivered Friday after a rally that attracted more than 1,000 people, the Salt Lake Tribune reported Tuesday.

A poll released Tuesday by the newspaper noted Utahans' views on have shifted noticeably in the decade since voters amended the state Constitution to prohibit legal recognition of same-sex marriage.

Residents are no evenly split on whether same-sex couples in Utah should be allowed to get state-issued marriage licenses, with 48 percent in favor and 48 percent against. The poll noted 72 percent of respondents said same-sex couples should be allowed to form recognized civil unions or domestic partnerships in lieu of marriage.

The questions asked in a poll of 600 randomly selected Utahans, taken by telephone from Jan. 10 to Jan. 13 by SurveyUSA, had margins of error between 3. 7 percent and 5.3 percent.