By 55% to 41%, New Jersey likely voters say gay couples should be able to marry, according to Zogby Poll released today; the margin among Independent voters is an even bigger 60% to 36%

(Utica, NY) – By a 55%-to-41% margin, likely voters in New Jersey say that gay couples should be able to marry, according to a recent telephone survey conducted by Zogby International. The survey of 803 likely voters, commissioned by the New Jersey chapters of PFLAG (Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays), was conducted July 15-19, and has a margin of error of +/- 3.6%. The survey comes as the lawsuit to let New Jersey gay couples marry, filed last year by Lambda Legal Defense & Education Fund, makes its way through state courts.

Among the three regions of the state, North Jersey supports marriage for gay couples by 53% to 43%; Central Jersey supports marriage for gay couples by 52% to 45%; and South Jersey supports marriage for gay couples by 60% to 35%.

Catholics favor marriage for gay couples 57% to 39%. Jews favor marriage for gay couples 69% to 28%.

Both women and men favor marriage for gay couples, with women at 58% to 37% and men at 52% to 45%. Democrats support marriage for gay couples by a forty-point margin, 68% to 28%. Independents support marriage for gay couples by a 60%-to-36% margin.

Republicans oppose marriage for gay couples 33% to 64%. But when asked if the state should stop fighting the marriage lawsuit to focus on other matters like the economy, Republicans said the state should drop its opposition, 52% to 42%. Conservatives are evenly split at 46% to 46%.

By a 41-point margin overall – 67% to 26% – likely voters say the state should stop fighting the lawsuit to focus on other matters.

By 57% to 40%, likely voters say the state should recognize Canadian/out-of-state marriages of gay couples. Two provinces in Canada, Ontario and British Columbia, recently allowed lesbian and gay couples to marry.

Whites favor marriage for gay couples by 56% to 40%. Nearly seven in ten Hispanics favor marriage for gay couples, 69% to 31%.

African-Americans oppose marriage for gay couples (44% to 53%) as do Asian-Americans (45% to 55%) and Protestants (41% to 54%). Nonetheless, all three groups want the state to stop fighting the lawsuit to focus on other matters: African-Americans by 61% to 33%, Asian-Americans by 65% to 20%, and Protestants by 61% to 33%.

Support for the domestic partnership bill currently in the New Jersey legislature is 69% to 26% among likely voters.

Finally, when New Jerseyans are asked whether they personally know someone who is gay, lesbian or bisexual, 77% said yes and 23% said no.

“No matter how the question is worded,” said John Zogby, President and CEO of Zogby International, “the answer remains the same. More than half of likely voters support allowing gay couples to marry. And a majority believe it would be better if the state stopped fighting the marriage lawsuit and used the resources to focus on problems like the economy.”

“Like all other parents, we want to dance at our children's weddings, including those of our lesbian and gay children,” said Clarice Zieja, president of Bergen County PFLAG, one of the state PFLAG chapters that commissioned the survey. “It's really wonderful to know that the people of New Jersey agree.”

“These survey results confirm the incredible response that the couples in the marriage equality lawsuit have gotten,” said Michael Adams, Director of Education and Public Affairs at Lambda Legal. “In town meetings across the state, the couples have seen that New Jersey citizens understand what it's like to be a same-sex couple and not have the same protections every other married couple has.”

PFLAG commissioned the survey through a grant from Freedom to Marry, the national organization based in New York City dedicated to achieving marriage equality for lesbian and gay couples across the United States.

Zogby International Polling/Market Research
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"What in the world people are really thinking"

Contact: Duncan J. McCully, Zogby International, (315) 624-0200 ext. 240
Steven Goldstein, New Jersey PFLAG chapters and Lambda Legal, (917) 449-8918