The poll also found 45 percent of Californians believed the gay marriage ban hadn't made a difference. Four percent said they didn't know if it was good or bad.

The findings come as gay right supporters await a federal judge's decision on the constitutionality of Proposition 8, the gay marriage ban passed by 52 percent of voters in 2008. A decision is expected this month.

The report, which looked at Californians' attitudes by religion on a number of gay rights issues, found differing opinions on same-sex marriage in churches, with evangelicals more like to support the ban. “The religious community itself is basically split on this issue,” said Robert P. Jones, founding CEO of the Public Religion Research Institute.

If a ballot measure were put before Californians today, the poll found 51 percent would support gay marriage. “It has a lot of good news in it,” said Marc Solomon, marriage director of Equality California, a San Francisco group that works on behalf of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. “If we're really able to clarify the fact that we're not talking about church weddings, but city hall weddings (support) goes up.”

Among the report's findings:

Of those who voted for Proposition 8, nearly half, or 48 percent, did so to “preserve traditional marriage” while the majority of those who voted against the measure, or 56 percent, did because it discriminates against gays and lesbians.

Messages Californians heard at church about gays and lesbians correlate with their feelings about same-sex marriage. Among those who hear negative messages, 19 percent supported same-sex marriage. In churches with a positive message, support goes up to 60 percent for gay marriage.

White mainline Protestants were more likely to hear positive messages about gays and lesbians than any other religious group.

Among religious groups, Latino Catholics (57 percent) showed more movement toward supporting gay marriage in the two years since the ban's passage than Latino Protestants (22 percent).

The results suggest that despite religious teaching on gay rights, Californians have become more supportive, those involved with the poll's release said Wednesday. “The sky has not fallen and California has not slid into the ocean,” said Rev. Madison Shockley, pastor of Pilgrim United Church of Christ in Carlsbad.

The poll also asked respondents what the biggest problems facing California were. Five percent said “decline of traditional values.” The top concerns were the state's budget deficit (36 percent), too few jobs (36 percent) and undocumented immigration (16 percent). Roughly 6 percent said “other” and 1 percent didn't know.

The National Organization for Marriage and Ron Prentice of ProtectMarriage.com could not be immediately reached for comment Wednesday.

Link: Prop 8 Forum