Utah poll shows opposition to same-sex adoption

A new statewide poll seeking to debunk the gay-Mormon divide shows substantial support – 63 percent – for additional legal protections for gay and transgender people.

And 66 percent of the Utahns polled characterize their religious beliefs as LDS.

The survey, conducted Jan. 8-14 by Ogden-based Information Alliance and commissioned by Equality Utah, also shows wide margins favoring workplace and housing protections for gay or transgender residents as well as health-insurance availability for same-sex partners.

Those results echo a recent Salt Lake Tribune poll that reveals most Utahns (56 percent) back legal protections – such as hospital visitation, inheritance rights and job safeguards – for same-sex couples.

However, Equality Utah did not provide a breakdown of how LDS respondents answered individual questions in its survey. The Tribune ‘s poll shows Mormons are split almost 50-50 on whether gay and lesbian couples should receive some legal protections.

Equality Utah’s poll, with a 4 percent margin of error, did mirror Tribune numbers showing most residents oppose adoption rights for same-sex couples — although the advocacy group’s survey also indicates most Utahns would green-light adoption of a partner’s child.