Poll: More Texans Support Same-Sex Marriage Than Oppose

According to a new poll from Texas Tech University, slightly more Texans now support marriage equality in the state than oppose it.

In an independent survey conducted by the Texas Tech’s Earl Survey Research Lab, students found that 48 percent of respondents supported marriage equality while only 47 percent opposed it. Associate professor Mark McKenzie, who oversaw the poll, spoke about the division among Texans over the issue of marriage equality.

In the past, support for gay marriage in this state was below 40 percent. Now, we’re closely divided on the issue. … Democrats and Independents strongly support gay marriage, while Republicans are strongly opposed to it.

But don’t go celebrating yet, the poll has a margin of error +/- 4.6 percent. With that margin of error, the numbers could easily be reversed state-wide. It does seem to indicate progress, as McKenzie noted. In a poll from last year conducted at one of my own alma maters, the University of Texas at Austin, support for marriage equality was only at 39 percent.

A federal judge struck down the state’s ban on same-sex marriage in late February, part of a series of similar decisions across several states in the wake of the Supreme Court’s ruling against the Defense of Marriage Act. The ruling has been stayed pending appeal to higher courts, with several of these decisions expected to end up before SCOTUS.