Despite having voted to ban same-sex marriage in their state constitution in 2006, a majority of Virginians now favor marriage equality:
Forty-seven percent of Virginians say gay couples should be allowed to legally wed, and 43 percent are opposed, according to the poll. Fifty-five percent of Virginians say gay couples should be able to legally adopt children.
The results mirror a dramatic and rapid shift in national public opinion about gay rights in recent years. The evolving public opinion could create a challenge in the key political battleground for the commonwealth's Republicans, who are almost universally opposed to gay marriage, if voters think the GOP is falling out of sync with the electorate. But the results also present complications for Virginia Democrats, who have moved more slowly than their national counterparts to embrace liberal social stands for fear of alienating independent voters.
In 2006, 57 percent of voters agreed that Virginia should add language to the state constitution prohibiting marriage — or any approximation of the institution, including civil unions — between same-sex couples.
Yet, Virginia is governed by Bob McDonnell, who has a masters from Pat Robertson's Regent University and pursued a socially conservative agenda almost immediately after taking office. He rolled back anti-discrimination protections for gay and lesbian state employees (while issuing a decree with less legal force prohibiting discrimination) and halted an extension of state health-care benefits for same-sex couples. McDonnell retains a 62 percent approval rating in the same poll.
The ground may be shifting on this, but in Virginia at least, it doesn't seem to be an issue with the kind of salience that would deeply hurt a religious conservative. That may change with time -- according to the poll, almost three-quarters of 18- to 29-year-olds support marriage equality.
