Majority of Iowans oppose constitutional ban on same-sex marriage

A plurality of Iowa voters supports a 2009 Iowa Supreme Court decision striking down a ban on same-sex marriage and a majority opposes an effort to amend the state constitution to ban the practice.

A Quinnipiac University poll of 1,256 registered voters found 47 percent support the court's decision and 44 percent opposing.

However, Iowa voters opposed amending the Constitution to ban same-sex marriage by 55 to 36 percent Quinnipiac found in its poll July 15-17. By a 57 to 31 percent margin they believe such a ban would be struck down by the courts.

Republicans support a ban by a 58 to 33 percent margin while opposition is 72 to 19 percent among Democrats and 58 to 34 percent among independent voters. There is almost no gender gap as men and women oppose an amendment.

"Iowans' views are not unusual," Peter Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute, said. "There's been a fairly dramatic change over last five to 10 years, a real transformation of attitudes toward supporting same-sex marriage. And the (U.S.) Supreme Court just blessed states that want to change their laws."

Same-sex marriage is far from universally accepted, Brown said. "There's a sizable contingent of people opposed to it and will continue to be opposed. For many, it's a religious belief, so it won't change."

The Quinnipiac poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.8 percentage points. Live interviewers call land lines and cell phones. For more information, visit http://www.quinnipiac.edu/polling.

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