Public Opinion
The 2005, the Illinois Policy Survey found that 31% of residents supported the legal right to marry someone of the same sex, and an additional 34% of residents supported civil unions.
In a 2010 New York Times poll, 48% of Illinois residents supported legalizing same-sex marriage.
A February 2013 statewide poll by Southern Illinois University's Paul Simon Public Policy Institute found 45% of registered voters supported same-sex marriage, another 30% supported civil unions for same-sex couples. The percentage of those polled supporting the legalization of same-sex marriage had increased 12% since a poll by the same group in 2010.
A November 2012 Public Policy Polling survey found that 47% of Illinois voters were in favor of same-sex marriage, 42% were opposed, and 11% were not sure.
A February 2013 Crain's/Ipsos poll found that 50% of Illinois residents favored the same-sex marriage bill under consideration by the legislature, while 29% oppose it. The survey also found that feelings were stronger among those favoring legalization.
Read more about this topic: Recognition Of Same-sex Unions In Illinois
Famous quotes related to public opinion:
“Constitutional statutes ... which embody the settled public opinion of the people who enacted them and whom they are to govern—can always be enforced. But if they embody only the sentiments of a bare majority, pronounced under the influence of a temporary excitement, they will, if strenuously opposed, always fail of their object; nay, they are likely to injure the cause they are framed to advance.”
—Rutherford Birchard Hayes (1822–1893)