Public Opinion
An independent May 2009 poll conducted by Brown University showed that 60% of Rhode Islanders supported legalizing same-sex marriage, while 31% opposed doing so.
Various polls have been commissioned by participants in the same-sex marriage debate, including Rhode Island Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders and the National Organization for Marriage (NOM), which opposes same-sex marriage. The poll results reflect different question wording and sampling, with NOM's polls generally showing far weaker support for same-sex marriage than other polls.
Forty-three percent of Rhode Islanders are Catholic. A survey by Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research for Rhode Island Marriage Coalition in August 2010 showed that 63% of Catholics supported same-sex marriage provided it did not infringe on the church's right to choose whom it marries.
Public Policy Polling reported that a poll taken in January 2013 found 57% of Rhode Island voters supported the legalization of same-sex marriage and 36% opposed legalization. Given other options, 31% preferred civil unions to marriage and 13% opposed all forms of legal recognition for same-sex relationships.
A survey conducted by the Taubman Center for Public Policy at Brown University on February 21-23, 2013, found that 60.4% of Rhode Island voters supported same-sex marriage and 26.1% opposed.
Read more about this topic: Recognition Of Same-sex Unions In Rhode Island
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