On Friday night, New York became the sixth state to legalize same-sex marriage (joining Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont and DC). 39 states, including Oregon, have prohibited it. In 2004, Oregonians voted 57% to 43% to pass Measure 36, a constitutional amendment that defined marriage exclusively in opposite-sex terms.

But a poll released Friday indicates that attitudes are changing fast. According to a survey of 701 Oregon voters (pdf) conducted last week by Public Policy Polling, 48% of Oregon voters believe that same-sex marriage should be legal. 42% said it should be illegal, leaving 11% unsure. The poll had a margin of error of 3.7%.

In a follow-up question, PPP gave voters three options:

Which of the following best describes your opinion on gay marriage: gay couples should be allowed to legally marry, or gay couples should be allowed to form civil unions but not legally marry, or there should be no legal recognition of a gay couple's relationship?

43% said gay couples should be allowed to legally marry. 33% were in favor of civil unions, but not marriage. And 22% said there should be no legal recognition. Just 1% were unsure.

That's a huge majority of 76% in favor of either marriage or civil unions -- which suggests that the challenge for gay-marriage proponents is to convince voters who support civil unions to support fulll marriage, rather than trying to bring along hard-line opponents of same-sex relationships.

On the jump, the crosstabs:

Do you think same-sex marriage should be legal or illegal? Democrats Republicans Independent & Other Legal 68% 15% 53% Illegal 19% 78% 35% Not Sure 13% 7% 12% Very liberal Somewhat liberal Moderate Somewhat conservative Very conservative Legal 88% 71% 53% 25% 2% Illegal 7% 17% 30% 64% 94% Not Sure 4% 12% 17% 11% 4% Women Men Legal 49% 46% Illegal 40% 44% Not Sure 12% 10% 18-29 30-45 46-65 Over 65 Legal 55% 59% 45% 30% Illegal 28% 31% 47% 57% Not Sure 17% 9% 8% 13% Which of the following best describes your opinion on gay marriage: gay couples should be allowed to legally marry, or gay couples should be allowed to form civil unions but not legally marry, or there should be no legal recognition of a gay couple's relationship? Democrats Republicans Independent & Other Legal marriage 65% 12% 45% Civil unions only 23% 45% 38% No recognition 11% 42% 16% Not sure 1% 1% 1% Very liberal Somewhat liberal Moderate Somewhat conservative Very conservative Legal marriage 86% 68% 47% 19% 1% Civil unions only 10% 22% 36% 51% 43% No recognition 4% 9% 16% 30% 55% Not Sure 0% 1% 2% 1% 1% Women Men Legal marriage 44% 42% Civil unions only 32% 35% No recognition 23% 21% Not sure 1% 1% 18-29 30-45 46-65 Over 65 Legal marriage 55% 57% 37% 28% Civil unions only 31% 26% 35% 43% No recognition 14% 16% 27% 26% Not sure 0% 1% 1% 2%