Four years after narrowly banning same-sex marriage in California through Proposition 8, state voters now approve of gay nuptials by 61 to 32 percent, a new Field Poll finds. That's a couple of points more in favor of same-sex marriage than in last year's poll, which found a 59 to 34 percent margin of support. In 2010, the numbers in favor were 52 to 48 percent.
The survey, released today, finds more support than opposition to gay marriage in every demographic subgroup except registered Republicans and self-identified conservatives.
The poll comes on the last day for friend of the court or "amicus" briefs to be filed in the U.S. Supreme Court case challenging Prop. 8.
Amicus briefs are filed by parties not directly involved in a case, in hopes of influencing the outcome. It's unclear how much sway they'll have on Supreme Court justices in a high- profile issue like same-sex marriage, especially those filed by the "usual suspects.” But one last-minute brief opposing Proposition 8 has legal circles buzzing. Stanford Law Professor Jane Schacter thinks the brief in support of same-sex marriage by prominent Republicans, including Hewlett-Packard CEO Meg Whitman, could carry some weight.
“What this brief does,” Prof. Schacter says, “is it says that a lot of people out there who used to support [Prop 8] -- you know Meg Whitman supported Prop. 8 in her gubernatorial campaign ... -- have rethought it and now see it as an issue of fundamental fairness.”