News
Support for marriage equality in Utah at record high
41 percent of residents supported gay nuptials prior to stay
David Baker commissioned a poll with Google revealing support for marriage equality in Utah was at an all-time high. (Washington Blade file photo by Michael Key)
A recent consumer survey conducted in Utah reveals that support for same-sex marriage in the state was at an all-time high last week just before the Supreme Court halted the weddings with a stay.
The poll, conducted using Google’s digital platform polling system, found that support for same-sex marriage reached 41 percent as of last week. Although the poll shows a majority of Utah voters have yet to embrace marriage equality, the result demonstrates a 13-point increase in support over two years when compared to an earlier poll from Brigham Young University.
David Baker, a Mormon and gay D.C. activist, said he ran the poll in the aftermath of the federal district court ruling in Utah in favor of marriage equality for more updated data on the state’s support for same-sex nuptials.
“I conducted the poll because the latest data out of Utah is almost two years old and it had been almost two weeks since the District court ruling,” Baker said. “I knew that Google’s tool would get me statistically significant results in a few days so I ran the poll as a private citizen.”
The questioning in the survey is based on similar polls that Brigham Young University’s Center for the Study of Elections & Democracy conducted on marriage equality in 2004, 2009, 2010 and 2012. The 2012 poll found that just 28 percent of Utah residents supported marriage equality, 43 percent supported only civil unions and 29 percent wanted no legal recognition for same-sex couples.
The 13-point jump in the more recent survey compared to the most recent BYU poll reveals that new support for marriage equality came entirely from those who previously supported only civil unions. Opposition to marriage equality also grew from 29 percent to 31 percent.
Baker said he thinks the poll demonstrates a shift in opinion among Utah voters to support same-sex marriage following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in June against Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act.
“A 13-point bump signifies that Utah voters realize the world hasn’t ended with the repeal of DOMA and recognizing same-sex marriages is the right thing to do,” Baker said.
The Washington Blade is unaware of any other recent polling on same-sex marriage in Utah in the aftermath of the district court ruling besides the consumer poll.
Google consumer surveys are deemed accurate by statistics experts. As Baker notes in his blog posting in which he published the poll results, statistics guru Nate Silver ranked them second overall in terms of reliability and lack of bias during the 2012 presidential election.
Scott Barclay, a senior scholar in public policy at the Williams Institute at University of California, Los Angeles, said the new poll is consistent with earlier public opinion estimates on rising support for marriage equality throughout the states.
“Support for marriage equality generally has been consistently rising in the last 20 years, but current research at the Williams Institute finds that the rate of support for marriage equality at both the national level and within almost all states appears to be increasing much more rapidly in the last four years than at any previous point in time,” Barclay said.
A Williams Institute survey, which didn’t include a question on civil unions, found that support in 2012 for same-sex marriage in Utah was at 36 percent —slightly higher than the result from BYU in the same year.
Barclay said there’s good evidence that public opinion surveys that include the option of civil unions alongside marriage equality actually underestimate the level of support in the general population for marriage equality.
Moreover, Barclay said it’s no surprise that increased support for marriage equality in the new poll comes entirely from people who previously supported only civil unions.
“As reflected in the current poll result, existing research shows that support for civil unions has generally declined as marriage equality has emerged as the popularly accepted form of state recognition,” Barclay said. “Individuals who identify as conservative are the most likely to continue to support civil unions.”
The new poll includes increased support from younger people relative to other groups, which, given recent attitudes on marriage equality, could shift the result more in favor of marriage equality. However, Barclay said he was able to achieve the same result by weighting the survey for a more balanced look.
“We used a statistical technique to apply population weights (based on the current information from the Current Population Survey of the Census) to the reported survey and the newly weighted version yielded a very similar result [at 41 percent support for marriage equality],” Barclay said.
The poll shows growing support for marriage equality in Utah just as other polls have revealed increased support for gay nuptials nationwide. A widely cited poll in March 2013 from Washington Post-ABC News found 58 percent of Americans support marriage equality.
Evan Wolfson, president of Freedom to Marry, spoke broadly about the growing support for marriage equality when asked to comment on the significance of the recent Utah survey.
“Support for the freedom to marry is accelerating in Utah, as in the rest of the country — and for the same reason,” Wolfson said. “As people get to know more about gay people’s lives and families, engage in conversations about gay people and why marriage matters, and think about values such as the Golden Rule of treating others as you’d want to be treated, hearts open and minds change.”
It remains to be seen whether the stay on same-sex marriage in Utah will have an impact on support for same-sex marriage in the state.
Baker said he hasn’t yet decided on whether to do another poll.
“I hadn’t planned on one just yet as I don’t think the stay is going to influence opinion,” Baker said. “I might do one that doesn’t have civil unions as an option to see where things stand there.”
Israel
ILGA World reinstates Israeli LGBTQ rights group
The Aguda was suspended from global organization in October 2024
ILGA World has announced it will reinstate an Israeli LGBTQ rights group.
The global advocacy group’s board last fall voted unanimously to suspend the Aguda, the Association for LGBTQ+ Equality in Israel, after it withdrew its bid to host the 2026/2027 ILGA World Conference. ILGA World in a May 1 statement said the Aguda’s reinstatement will take effect on Oct. 27, 2025, a year after the suspension began.
“The decision, made by a majority vote, follows an investigation by ILGA World’s Disputes Resolution Committee, composed of elected board members,” reads the statement. “The committee assessed the complaints it received on whether the Aguda aligned with ILGA World’s constitutional principles.”
The statement notes that while the complaint against the Aguda “was deemed substantive — particularly due to the Aguda’s reluctance to condemn war crimes plausibly amounting to genocide in Gaza, the committee acknowledged that ‘the Aguda actively continues to provide support to LGBTI communities.'”
“The ILGA World board took into account that requiring member organizations to take a public stance on their government positions and actions, and holding them accountable for not doing so, would create a precedent that could be harmful to our membership in many countries,” it adds.
The statement further notes the ILGA World board’s decision “is not an endorsement of the Aguda’s position, actions, or silence on the war in Gaza.”
The decision to suspend the Aguda took place less than a month after Israel marked the first anniversary of Oct. 7.
Hamas militants on Oct. 7, 2023, killed roughly 1,200 people, including upwards of 360 people at the Nova Music Festival, when they launched a surprise attack against southern Israel.
The Hamas-controlled Gaza Health Ministry says Israeli forces have killed tens of thousands of people in the enclave since Oct. 7. Fifty-nine hostages who were kidnapped in Israel on that day remain in the Gaza Strip.
Aguda CEO Yael Sinai Biblesh stated:
“ILGA’s decision to reinstate the Aguda is an important step that recognizes our longstanding contribution to advancing LGBTQ+ rights in Israel,” said Aguda CEO Yael Sinai Biblesh in a statement her organization sent to the Washington Blade on Monday. “However, we regret that the suspension was not lifted immediately and instead extended until October.”
“We chose to fight for our voice in spaces where the discourse is difficult and complex, because we believe that’s exactly where our presence is most needed — to enable nuanced and respectful conversations and discussions,” she added. “The Aguda will continue to collaborate with organizations around the world in order to defend the rights of all people under the LGBTQ+ umbrella across all sectors in Israel — both Arab and Jewish, even in the most challenging times.”
ILGA Asia on Monday issued a statement in which it said it disagrees with the decision to reinstate the Aguda.
“While we acknowledge the decision of the ILGA World board, we note that the motion to lift the suspension was not adopted unanimously,” said the ILGA Asia Executive Board. “Following consultations with the ILGA Asia Executive Board, our representatives on the ILGA World board did not support the motion. Our decision was guided by deep conscience, regional accountability, and unyielding commitment to justice, dignity, and solidarity.”
ILGA Asia made the following points.
• We fully recognize the process undertaken by ILGA World’s Disputes Resolution Committee. However, we believe that the following factors were not adequately addressed:
• The significant harm and internal division caused by the Aguda’s 2024 bid to host the World Conference in Israel, at a time of escalating genocide and humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza
• The lack of a public stance from The Aguda on war crimes and human rights violations in Gaza, which we view as inconsistent with the universality of human rights espoused by ILGA
• The presence of content glorifying militarism on their public platforms raises concerns about alignment with ILGA’s principles of peace and nonviolence
• And the unresolved harm and trauma experienced by many within the ILGA family — particularly Palestinian, Arab, and Muslim members — warranted a longer and more restorative process before reinstatement.
“We acknowledge that the majority of the ILGA World Board justified the decision on the grounds that civil society organizations should not be automatically held accountable for the actions of their governments,” reads the statement. “While this argument holds relevance in many repressive contexts, we respectfully diverge from this rationale in this case, where silence amid atrocity has direct and harmful consequences.”
The ILGA Asia Executive Board’s full statement can be found here.
Australia
Australian prime minister re-elected
Anthony Albanese marched in 2023 Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras parade
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Saturday won re-election.
Albanese’s Labor Party defeated the Liberal Party that Peter Dutton led.
Dutton, who lost his seat in parliament, quickly conceded to Albanese, who is the first Australian prime minister to win re-election in 21 years. Foreign Minister Penny Wong, a lesbian who represents South Australia in the Australian Senate, on Saturday introduced Albanese at his victory party.
“Today the Australian people have voted for Australian values; for fairness, aspiration, and opportunity for all, for the strength to show courage in adversity, and kindness to those in need,” said Albanese. “Australians have voted for a future that holds true to these values.”
(9News Australia)
Albanese has been prime minister since 2022. In 2023 he became the first Australian prime minister to march in the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras parade.
Voters re-elected Albanese less than a week after Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and his Liberal Party won the country’s federal election. The Trump-Vance administration’s global tariffs are among the issues that factored into both country’s votes.
“Congratulations to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on his victory in Australia’s federal election,” said Secretary of State Marco Rubio on X. “Australia is a valued U.S. friend and a close partner.”
“We look forward to continuing to promote freedom and security in the Indo-Pacific and around the world,” he added.
Virginia
Va. LG opposed marriage equality affirmation bill in handwritten note
Winsome Earle-Sears constitutionally required to sign HB 174 as Senate president
Virginia Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears last year in a handwritten note indicated her opposition to marriage rights for same-sex couples when she signed a bill that affirmed marriage equality in the state.
Brandon Jarvis of Virginia Scope on May 1 published Earle-Sears’s note on House Bill 174, which state Del. Rozia Henson, a Prince William County Democrat who is gay, introduced.
The Virginia Senate passed HB 174 by a 22-17 vote margin, and the state constitution required Earle-Sears to sign it as the chamber’s president. Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin signed the measure into law after it received bipartisan support.
“As the lieutenant governor, I recognize and respect my constitutional obligation to adhere to procedures set out in the constitution of Virginia,” wrote Earle-Sears in her note. “However, I remain morally opposed to the content of HB 174 as passed by the General Assembly.”
Earle-Sears, a former U.S. Marine who served in the Virginia House of Delegates from 2002-2004, in 2021 became the first woman elected Virginia’s lieutenant governor. Activists have criticized her for her opposition to LGBTQ rights in Virginia.
She sparked controversy last year when she misgendered state Sen. Danica Roem (D-Manassas), who is transgender, on the Senate floor. Earle-Sears has also spoken at the Conservative Political Action Conference.
Earle-Sears is running to succeed Youngkin as governor once his term ends in January 2026. She will likely face former U.S. Rep. Abigail Spanberger, a Democrat who previously represented Virginia’s 7th Congressional District.
John Reid, a conservative talk show host who is openly gay, last month secured the Republican nomination to succeed Earle-Sears as lieutenant governor. Youngkin has called for Reid to end his campaign amid reports that he posted “pornographic content” on social media.
Reid has strongly denied the reports.
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