Public Opinion
A 2010 survey found that support for same-sex marriage in Iowa was 44%, the only state with same-sex marriage in which support was below 50%. Support in Iowa has increased from below 30% in 1994-96, and from below 40% in 1997-98. A January 2010 survey found that greater than 60% of Iowans agreed that same-sex marriage "does not deserve the Legislature's limited time" in the 2010 session, a truncated session in which legislation was introduced to overturn the same-sex marriage decision. This followed a previous September 2009 poll which found 41% support for and 40% opposition to a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage, and that 92% of respondents said "marriage rights for gay and lesbian couples had led to 'no real change' in their own lives."
An August 2011 Public Policy Polling survey found that 46% of Iowa voters thought that same-sex marriage should be legal, while 45% thought it should be illegal and 9% were not sure. A separate question on the same survey found that 70% of Iowa voters supported the legal recognition of same-sex couples, with 40% supporting same-sex marriage, 30% supporting civil unions but not marriage, 29% favoring no legal recognition and 2% not sure.
A February 2012 Des Moines Register poll shows a majority of Iowans oppose passage of a state constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage, by a 56-38 margin.
A February 2013 Public Policy Polling poll found that 46% of Iowa voters thought that same-sex marriage should be legal, while 43% thought it should be illegal and 11% were not sure.
Read more about this topic: Same-sex Marriage In Iowa
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“For public opinion does not admit that lofty rapturous laughter is worthy to stand beside lofty lyrical emotion and that there is all the difference in the world between it and the antics of a clown at a fair.”
—Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol (1809–1852)