A new report from Public Policy Polling has once again confirmed what several other recent polls have discovered: A vast majority of Coloradans - 71% according to this PPP poll (PDF) - support relationship recognition for same-sex couples in the state. And while Colorado Republican support for granting full marriage rights to gay and lesbian couples hovers at just 13%, 44% of Colorado Republicans are in favor of granting those couples civil unions. Combined, that's a whopping 57% of Colorado Republicans supporting some form of legal LGBT relationship recognition. (Click the photo at left to see further breakdown of the results.)
Despite this consistent, overwhelming support, in March 2011 six Republican House Judiciary Committee members killed a civil unions bill before it could be heard on the House floor for open debate. The State Senate had already approved SB-172, the civil unions bill, with a bipartisan vote in favor of the fair-minded law.
Although the defeat was heartbreaking, Colorado's LGBT activist community will not be dismayed. (Full disclosure: I testified at the House Judiciary Committee hearing in favor of the bill.) Political groups are gearing up for the 2012 legislative session, when we're likely to see a similar LGBT relationship recognition bill brought before the state legislature. If such a bill passed the House and Senate, Gov. John Hickenlooper is expected to sign it into law. Brad Clark, Executive Director of One Colorado, had this to say in response to this month's PPP poll:
"These new numbers reinforce what what we already know: Coloradans overwhelmingly support civil unions. I look forward to the 2012 legislative session when our Representatives will have another chance to do the right thing and provide all committed couples with the tools they need to care for the ones they love. An issue with so much public support deserves to be debated on the House floor and voted on by all of our Representatives."
The 20-question survey was administered to 510 Colorado voters between August 4 - 7, ranging from 18 years of age to older than 65. Notably, voters under 45 years old comprised just under 30% of those polled, meaning more than 60% of those polled were 46 or older - a demographic which is statisitically less hospitable to LGBT relationship recognition than younger voters. In fact, 82% of voters aged between 18 and 29 support gay marriage - a sentiment that will hopefully be reflected in the polls and at the ballot box as these younger, more tolerant generations gain political power.
Jessica Cook Woodrum, One Colorado's Communications Manager, expects that will be the case, due to the reality that LGBT people continue to come out and live open, honest, loving lives. In an email exchange discussing the poll results, Woodrum clarified her reasoning:
In recent years, we have witnessed a sea change in public opinion on issues of equality. As LGBT Coloradans come out - and as their neighbors, co-workers, and friends get to know them - support for issues like civil unions increases dramatically. I expect that we will continue to see support grow in the coming years as more and more people come to know committed gay and lesbian couples who are simply trying to protect their families.
The PPP poll posed two questions regarding same-sex relationships:
Q6: Do you think same-sex marriage should be legal or illegal?
Q7:Which of the following best describes your opinion on gay marriage: gay couples should be allowed to legally marry, or gay couples should be allowed to form civil unions but not legally marry, or there should be no legal recognition of a gay couple's relationship?
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