Poll Discovers How Marriage Won In Washington

A new poll conducted by self-described moderate think tank Third Way found several key strategies that helped Washington make history on November 6 as one of the first states in U.S. history to approve marriage equality by popular vote. Maryland and Maine voters also approved marriage equality on November 6, and Minnesota voters rejected a proposal that would have amended the state's constitution to ban same-sex marriage.

According to the report, equality advocates in Washington, formally led by Washington United for Marriage, successfully managed to re-frame the discussion about same-sex marriage from the boogeyman rhetoric that has been successful each of the 32 times Americans have voted on marriage equality before this year. Advocates did this by changing the discussion from one about "rights" to a conversation about love and commitment, affirming that "values" are learned by children at gone, and by giving voters "permission" to change their minds about the issue, the report concluded.

The poll, conducted by Third Way and researchers at Grove Insight, took place immediately after the election in Washington state, where voters ultimately approved marriage equality 53.7% to 46.3%, according to the poll's website.

Read the results in their entirety here.