ALBANY - New York State voters support 53 – 40 percent Gov. David Paterson’s order to state agencies to recognize same-sex marriages performed outside New York, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released Thursday. But voters say 55 – 30 percent that this issue should have been decided by the State Legislature, not the Governor.

This is an issue of equality, an issue of equal rights before the law, said Ginny Apuzzo, chairwoman of the LGBTQ Center of the Hudson Valley.

“My sense is that that education is taking hold in New York. New Yorker’s by and large are very fair minded people and the community is committed to do the kind of education that will bring those statistics higher and higher until the issue of marriage is firmly resolved in this state.”

When New York State voters are given three choices on the gay marriage union:

• 42 percent say same-sex couples should be allowed to legally marry;
• 31 percent say these couples should be allowed to form civil unions, but not marry;
• 21 percent say there should be no legal recognition of same-sex unions.

The poll found that there is a significant gender split, with 48 percent of women and 34 percent of men supporting same-sex marriage.  A total of 63 percent of Republicans, 80 percent of Democrats and 75 percent of independent voters support either same-sex marriage or civil unions.