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A new poll reveals that nearly three-fourths of Utahns support lawful same-sex marriage as the Senate examines legislation to preserve same-sex marriage. According to a new Deseret News/Hinckley Institute of Politics poll, 72% of residents believe that weddings between same-sex couples should be legally recognized as valid, with the same rights as traditional marriages. According to the poll, 23% disagree, while 5% are unsure.
“There has been a seismic shift in thinking for a state that less than 20 years ago passed laws and a constitutional amendment outlawing same-sex marriage,” said Jason Perry, director of the Hinckley Institute of Politics at the University of Utah.
When same-sex marriage was legalized in Utah in 2014, a year before the Supreme Court ruling, less than half of Utah residents supported it. During the legal battle and fierce public debate over the subject, a January 2014 Deseret News/KSL poll revealed that a majority of Utahns (57%) opposed same-sex marriage.
“We know that families come in all forms and sizes in Utah, and we are a pro-family state.” When we witness two loving, dedicated people marry, our natural instinct is to support and encourage them. “This gives me a lot of optimism for the future,” he explained.
Williams also expressed optimism that Utah Republican Sens. Mike Lee and Mitt Romney will follow the lead of their House colleagues and support the Respect for Marriage Act, “so that all Utah families will be protected by state and federal law.”
The poll results came amid Senate deliberations over the Respect for Marriage Act, which the House passed in July with 47 Republicans, including Utah’s four GOP congressman, joining all Democrats in support. The bill is blocked in the Senate, where Republicans, including Lee and Romney, are attempting to incorporate stronger religious freedom safeguards. A vote on the bill is not expected until after the November midterm elections.
A 2015 Supreme Court decision required states to recognize same-sex marriages, but Democrats pushed for the policy to be codified in the aftermath of the court’s Roe v. Wade decision. In a concurring opinion, Justice Clarence Thomas expressed support for reviewing the court’s previous rule on same-sex marriage.
The bill would make it illegal for states to refuse to recognize same-sex marriages and would give same-sex couples the same federal rights as heterosexual couples even if the Supreme Court overturned the 2015 decision. “We affirm that persons who take advantage of laws or court rulings allowing same-sex marriage should not be regarded with contempt.” According to the church’s website, “the gospel of Jesus Christ instructs us to love and respect all people with kindness and decency – even when we disagree.”
While a majority of active Latter-day Saints support legal same-sex marriage, a Gallup study indicated that this is not true among weekly churchgoers nationally, regardless of faith. According to Gallup, 40% of Americans who attend church on a weekly basis support gay marriage, while 58% reject it.
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