Freedom To Marry Poll: Majority In Non-Marriage States Support Marriage

Chris Geidner writes at Buzzfeed:

In a memorandum being distributed Thursday by the group [Evan] Wolfson founded a little more than a decade ago, Freedom to Marry details “the Pathway to Winning Marriage Nationwide” in light of these and other recent developments. “What we’re trying to do in the memo is underscore that, while there will be flash points, there will be things that aren’t 100% predictable — like, when a ruling comes where — the fact that there is this litigation is part of the strategy and part of the momentum and part of, though not the entirety of, the work that is needed — all of which is about setting the stage for a successful return to the Supreme Court,” he said. The pathway, to put it simply, is a trip back to the Supreme Court.

Bolding is mine. About the poll:

The survey, conducted Dec. 2–8, 2013, by Anzalone Liszt Grove Research for Freedom to Marry, broke down support into regions, with Indiana, Kansas, Michigan, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, and Wisconsin respondents — the central region — favoring marriage equality by a 23-point margin (59% favor, 36% oppose). Respondents in the western region — Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, New Mexico, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, and Wyoming — favored marriage by a 19-point margin (53% favor, 34% oppose). In the South, which included Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia, respondents were split evenly (46% favor, 46% oppose). Finally — and another data point that could help explain Wolfson’s changed tone — 56% of the survey’s respondents believe that it is likely that marriage for same-sex couples will be legal in their state in a couple of years.

Read more from Geidner's lengthy interview with Wolfson and the plan to bring marriage back to the Supreme Court.