By John Wright
As Republican state lawmakers try to chip away at LGBT rights in Austin, a new poll shows that a solid majority of Texans now support same-sex marriage.
The poll from Texas Tech University’s Earl Survey Research Lab found that 64 percent of Texans back marriage equality, while only 28 percent oppose it.
The last time the same poll included a question about same-sex marriage, in 2015, only 49 percent supported it, the Lubbock Avalance-Journal reports.
Results from the new poll, conducted between March 20 and April 13, were released 22 months after the U.S. Supreme Court, ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges, made same-sex marriage legal in Texas and across the nation. The poll also comes in the midst of the state legislative session, in which right-wing lawmakers are seeking to roll back the rights of same-sex couples, by allowing adoption agencies, businesses, clerks and other entities to discriminate against them based on religious beliefs.
The TTU poll also found that 68 percent of Texans believe same-sex couples should be entitled to the full benefits of marriage, including health insurance. The latter question was asked in the context of a lawsuit before the Texas Supreme Court challenging benefits for the same-sex spouses of city employees in Houston.
On the subject of transgender rights, the TTU poll found that 49 percent believe people should be required to use restrooms based on the sex they were assigned at birth. That’s compared with 37 percent who think trans people should be able to use restrooms based on their gender identity.
Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, the state’s chief proponent of anti-trans bathroom legislation, has repeatedly said “an overwhelming majority” of Texans support such a law. But according to the TTU poll, it’s not even a majority—it’s a plurality.
The poll has a 4.6 percent margin of error. View the full results here.
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