A majority of Arizonans would support a statewide non-discrimination law that creates protections for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender residents, according to a new poll.

The Human Rights Campaign, a national equality-advocacy group, on Thursday released a poll showing 60 percent of respondents want to ban employment discrimination against people who are LGBT.

Under current state law, it's legal in most of Arizona for an employer to fire someone because they are LGBT.

Similarly, the poll found that 59 percent of respondents support outlawing discrimination against LGBT people in housing. Sixty-three percent support allowing LGBT people to adopt children.

David Martinez, who chairs HRC's Arizona Steering Committee, said he wasn't surprised by the survey results. He said a broad spectrum of Arizonans — including business leaders and Republicans such as Mesa Mayor John Giles — support non-discrimination laws.

“We are a very young state, a very diverse state, and other data points have shown that those populations are very supportive of the LGBTQ community, pro-equality candidates and our issues," Martinez said.

It's unclear when and how LGBT advocates might push for a statewide civil-rights law. They could take the fight to the GOP-controlled Legislature — an uphill battle — or try for a ballot initiative.

A ballot initiative could draw fierce opposition from those who want business owners to have the legal right to refuse service to LGBT people.

On that point, the survey's results were slightly more mixed: 47 percent oppose allowing businesses to deny service if they say it would violate their religious beliefs, while 32 perfect favor such an exception.

The telephone poll was conducted in mid-November and included 501 respondents. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.5 percent, according to pollster Hart Research Associates, a Washington, D.C.-based firm.

While Arizona doesn't have a statewide non-discrimination law with protections for LGBT people, a handful of liberal-leaning cities, such as Phoenix, Tucson and Tempe, have enacted their own such laws.

TALKING POLITICS: Listen to our Arizona politics podcast, The Gaggle, on Apple Podcasts, SoundCloud, Stitcher or Google Play.

Reach the reporter at dustin.gardiner@arizonarepublic.com or follow him on Twitter: @dustingardiner.

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