TWO Hails New ABC/Post Poll Showing Strong Support of Marriage Equality Exceeds Strong Opposition

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: John Becker, Director of Communications
Phone: 920.265.6023
Email: john@truthwinsout.org

Findings Confirm America Has Passed a Tipping Point on LGBT Rights, Says TWO

BURLINGTON, Vt – Truth Wins Out cheered the results of a poll released today showing that strong support for marriage equality has eclipsed strong opposition for the first time. The survey, conducted by ABC News and the Washington Post, revealed that Americans believe same-sex couples should be able to legally marry by a margin of 53 percent to 39 percent. Of those in favor, 39 percent said they “strongly supported” marriage equality; only 32 percent of equality opponents reported feeling strongly about the issue.

“Today’s results confirm what groups like Truth Wins Out and polling analysts across the political spectrum have been saying for a long time: we have passed a cultural tipping point on LGBT rights,” said Wayne Besen, Executive Director of Truth Wins Out. “As ever-increasing numbers of Americans embrace marriage equality, a freedom that seemed unthinkable just fifteen years ago is now within our grasp. Equality for LGBT people is no longer a matter of ‘if,’ but ‘when.’”

Other notable findings in the ABC/Post poll include a high number of Americans – 70 percent overall and 80 percent of young adults and people with college degrees – reporting knowing someone who is gay or lesbian; among those who do, 59 percent support full marriage equality. While half of seniors are strongly opposed to equal marriage rights for same-sex couples, nearly 70 percent of adults under 30 support it. Additionally, the survey found that support for marriage equality among African-Americans has reached an all-time high of 59 percent.

“These numbers, along with high-profile declarations of support for marriage equality from leaders and groups as diverse as President Barack Obama, Jay-Z, General Colin Powell, and the NAACP, should forever dispel the toxic myth that the African American community is anti-gay,” said John Becker, TWO’s Director of Communications. “Shameful efforts by right-wing groups like the so-called National Organization for Marriage to turn marriage equality into a ‘wedge between gays and blacks’ have failed miserably.”

Pollsters also note that statistics about the visibility of the LGBT community and public opinion on marriage equality have changed dramatically over a short time. As recently as 1998, only 59 percent of Americans said they had an LGBT friend, family member, or acquaintance. Opposition to marriage equality is at its lowest point since 2004, and support is at an all-time high.

“A majority of Americans are on our side – the side of justice, the side of equality, the side of American values, and the right side of history – and that majority grows every day,” said Becker. “While painful potholes undoubtedly remain along the road to LGBT equality, the traffic is flowing in only one direction.”

Truth Wins Out is a nonprofit organization that fights anti-LGBT extremism. TWO specializes in turning information into action by organizing, advocating and fighting for LGBT equality.

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