A sign of changing times - even in the South.
I don't want to get anyone's hopes up - because we've seen this happen before (even in California). On GLBT issues people often say one thing and then in the privacy of the voting booth vote another - but this is definitely good news, and in a state not particularly well known for its progressive leanings (although it did vote for Obama in 2008): North Carolina.
From On Top Magazine:
A majority of North Carolina residents oppose a proposed amendment to the North Carolina state constitution that would ban gay marriage, Raleigh-based WRAL reported.
According to an Elon University Poll released Friday, 56 percent of residents oppose the amendment lawmakers earlier this month okayed for ratification by voters in May.
The article goes on to say:
While respondents don't want to enshrine the state's prohibition against marriage equality in the constitution, a majority also object to gay marriage. Only 33 percent of respondents said they support full marriage rights for gay couples, an increase of 12 percentage points since March, 2009.
This is an interesting dichotomy - a majority of North Carolinians oppose gay marriage but they don't want to amend their state constitution to bar it. Could it be that people are getting fed up with using the GLBT community as a punching bag and are realizing there are far more important things to be concerned about?
Regardless - this doesn't look like it's going to be the losing battle for supporters of equality we once thought it would be. If a few more polls come out affirming the results of this one - we may be able to score a pretty tremendous victory in one of the nation's most culturally conservative areas.