A majority of Wyomingites support same-sex marriage, according to a University of Wyoming poll.
Researchers interviewed state residents by telephone from Oct. 13 to Oct. 28 -- as gay marriage was becoming legal.
On Oct. 17, a federal judge wrote an order legalizing the nuptials, and on Oct. 21, weddings began.
Interviewers asked respondents whether they agreed with the statement: “Homosexual couples should be allowed to get married.”
Fifty-three percent of people agreed; 39 percent disagreed.
The remaining 8 percent either didn’t have an opinion or declined to answer the question, said UW political science professor Jim King, a co-director of the poll.
“This represents a notable shift in public opinion,” King said. “Two years ago, 55 percent of Wyomingites disapproved of same-sex marriage and 40 percent approved. We’ve seen a reversal in those numbers.”
Support for same-sex marriage has been increasing in the past decade.
When UW researchers first asked the question in 2004, 27 percent of Wyomingites indicated approval. Approval increased a few percentage points every two years when UW polled.
“The rise from 40 percent approval in 2012 to 53 percent approval this year is a significant jump,” King said.
King doesn’t believe the court ruling legalizing marriage affected results. The proportion of respondents supporting and opposing same-sex marriage did not change after the court’s decision, he said.
Jeran Artery, chairman of Wyoming Equality, said he wasn’t surprised by the poll.
Wyoming Equality ran a public advocacy project called Wyoming Unites for Marriage, which in the past seven months has released lists of attorneys, faith leaders, business leaders and others who support marriage equality. That may have been influential, Artery said.
“Just a little over 50 percent is what we see in other conservative states, Southern states,” Artery said. “And the country, nationally, is at about 60 percent, and of course that averages out. Some states are significantly higher, and some states are lower, like Wyoming.”
Artery hopes support for gay marriage continues to increase in Wyoming, but he doubts support will ever be 100 percent.
“We’re not even at 100 percent acceptance for some of the other civil rights movements,” he said. “It’s hard for some folks to wrap their mind around this. I understand that, but I would hope they take a live-and-let-live mentality of 'I’ll stay out of your business; you stay out of mine.'”
Political ideology to an extent explains people’s attitudes on the issue, King said.
“Self-identified moderates and liberals support same-sex marriage by substantial margins, while conservatives remain opposed,” King said. “However, there also is a difference across age groups, with younger adults being more supportive of same-sex marriage than senior citizens, regardless of the person’s ideology.”
UW’s Survey Research Center interviewed 768 Wyoming residents. The department of political science, Wyoming Public Radio and the Wyoming Survey and Analysis Center sponsored the poll.
The margin of error is plus or minus 4 percentage points.
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(13) comments
I'd sure like to know just WHO that Liberal-minded University polled!? It sure wasn't the Ranching, Farming, Business Oriented, FAMILY-Based, or Religious and Working Class who were asked their thoughts on Gay Marriage! If they polled a bunch of students, professors or they specifically went after the few Lib's in our State-then I'm sure that they will get this same kind of result that they WANTED to have come up! Liberals have a way of "twisting facts" to get what they want out of their polling data! Just like the obama administration saying "Eighty Nine Percent of Scientists claim that Global Warming is a true fact...."!!!?? Now we have the real facts being published-those obama officials actually only polled the Scientists they WANTED to divulge, and make it look as though the whole scientific community were in agreeance!? That just simply is NOT the case!
wyochris: So is it your thought that the 47% who did not agree that same-sex couples should be allowed to marry were liberals also? Couldn't it be that perhaps the 47% of people who did not agree with same-sex couples marrying were conservatives? A recent Gallup poll showed Wyoming to have the highest percentage of conservatives of any state, with 51.4% of residents identifying themselves as conservative. That doesn't seem inconsistent with the 47% number of those not agreeing with same-sex marriage. Maybe you need to lighten up and lose the persecution complex.
Please have enough respect for the God given right of conception and birth to put this subject back in the closet and keep it as discreet and private as humanly possible for the sake of mankind. I mean really... enough!
Could you imagine ecstasy making capital crime legal? Yea!
The best way to prove this is true is to put it on the state ballot and then if it passes have the states congressman sponsor a bill to put it on a national ballot.
If there's anything I can't stand its someone telling me what everyone else thinks...
Do these people have a petition signed by half of Wyoming or do they have an extremely rich family that doesn't want to go it alone?
1.6% isn't a good reason for anything.
cocosimmi: The people of Wyoming put a law on the books (the ban on marriage equality) that has been decided to be unconstitutional. Unconstitutional = illegal, albeit illegal without criminality attached. Now you want to go back to the people of Wyoming and ask if they really want to obey the highest law of the land, as if the Constitution is just a "suggestion?" I don't think so. You are just going to have to get used to fact that all laws in America are subject to the Constitution of the United States of America, and that The People don't have an option to throw it away whenever it suits them to do so.
There is no good reason to deny that we must keep evolving until an adult, regardless of gender, sexual orientation, monogamy or polyamory, race, or religion is free to share love, sex, residence, and marriage (and any of those without the others) with any and all consenting adults. Polyamory, polygamy, open relationships are not for everyone, but they are for some. The limited same-gender freedom to marry is a great and historic step, but is NOT full marriage equality, because equality "just for some" is not equality. Let's stand up for EVERY ADULT'S right to marry the person(s) they love. Get on the right side of history!
Have you ever heard the statement, "Liars can figure and figures can lie."? What we have hear is a "failure to communicate." Interestingly enough, the terms population and sample are frequently used in such studies from a statistical perspective. By definition, a population includes all members of a specified group. For example, all same-sex "marriage" proponents make up a population; all non-supporters of same-sex "marriage" at a particular time constitute another population. Quite often we think of populations as containing large numbers of members. In fact, some populations are large, but others are not (same-sex "marriage" proponents). The distinguishing characteristic of a population is not that it is large, but that all those who meet the definition for membership are included. In many research situations, it is not feasible to involve or measure all members of a population. So a subset of the population, called a sample, is selected, and only the members of the sample are included in the research study. It is possible, therefore, to start with a very small population and select and even smaller subset sample as in this case. And, we can therefore, skew our data to prove our point (and avoid objectivity). Virtually any study can be made to show significant results if one uses enough subjects, regardless of how nonsensical the content may be.
Most Wyomingites are tolerant libertarian bunch, though like elsewhere we do have our fair share of nerdowells
As a former resident of Wyoming, this doesn't surprise me at all. Wyoming was not a homophobic state, even 20 and 30 years ago. Most Wyomingites minded their own business and were very tolerant of other peoples privacy. Recently, I was very surprised by stridently anti-gay statements by several politicians, prompting a reexamination of the legitimacy of the 'Equality State' nomenclature. Apparently, no need.
Feel free to give me a call. We'll see if we can't get those results headed back the other direction...
he said anonymously
Even with your out-dated and bigoted attitude, it won't make a difference. You're part of a dying minority, and equality is finally gaining ground in the Equality State.
Wow. way to go Wyoming.
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