Support for the gay marriage bill is strongest among women and voters under the age of 34. Republicans are strongly opposed, with older voters, African Americans and Protestants also in the "no" column.

Overall, however, every region in the state supports the idea of having the Senate pass the measure, Upstate New Yorkers favor legalizing same-sex marriage 50% in favor to 40% against.

The poll comes as Senate Democratic leaders are trying to determine how to move forward on a new push over the past week by Paterson to legalize gay marriage; Paterson is pushing for a rare up or down vote in which the outcome is not necessarily known before the measure comes to the floor.

The Assembly already has been on record supporting the right, though it appears certain the Senate bill will not pass without Republicans crossing over to join Democrats, who control the house by a 32-30 margin but have several members, including Sen. William Stachowski, (D) Buffalo, who oppose the measure.

The Siena poll found support for gay marriage rights among Democrats, women, Catholics, Jews, and residents of New York City, the downstate suburbs and, by a 50 to 40 percent margin, those living upstate. It was backed most heavily by independents and those age 18 to 34, a subgroup that favored the right by a 71 to 20 percent margin.

Those most likely to oppose the gay marriage bill were males, blacks, Protestants and those over age 55. Republicans, by a 59 to 31 percent margin, were most opposed among the various subgroups, the poll found.

The Sienna Research Institute poll was released April 20, 2009 and was conducted 4/13/09 - 4/15/09 682 completed surveys with a margin of error of+/- 3.8%

The Buffalo News reports that Siena poll spokesman Steven Greenberg said "By a fairly significant margin, voters would like to see New York join with Vermont, Massachusetts, Iowa, and other states in allowing same sex couples to marry here. It says there is certainly no political downside for the Senate passing the bill."

Empire State Pride Agenda Executive Director Alan Van Capelle offered the following statement regarding the latest Siena poll:

"Clearly, New Yorkers are choosing equality for our families. As they continue to talk about this issue around their kitchen tables, they are realizing the magnitude of the harm to families who are denied access to the more than one thousand rights and responsibilities that New York provides with a civil marriage license. They are deciding that their gay and lesbian friends, co-workers, sisters, brothers, aunts and uncles deserve what they already have and need to keep their families strong."

Van Capelle added, "It’s time for State Senators who still aren’t with us to look at these results and ask themselves this simple question: Do I want to be on the right side of history or the wrong side of history when the story is written about how marriage equality came to New York State? I think many will want to be on the right side and will want to look back and say, ‘I did the right thing for my constituents and for the people of New York. I stood up for equality." —staff