YOUR FAVORITE LOGO TV SHOWS ARE ON PARAMOUNT+

Support For Marriage Equality Weakening In Australia, New Poll Reveals

The results of Australia's national postal survey will be announced November 15.

Australians are filing postal ballots in a national survey on marriage equality, but new polling shows opposition is on the rise.

A poll of 1,695 voters by Galaxy Research found support for same-sex marriage dipped in the past five weeks, from 63% to 57%. Opposition, meanwhile, has grown from 30% to 34%. (Conducted last week, the poll has a 2.4% margin of error.)

WILLIAM WEST/AFP/Getty Images

A Vote Yes mural supporting same-sex marriage adorns the side of a building in Sydney on September 7, 2017.Australia's High Court on September 7, threw out two challenges to a same-sex marriage postal vote planned by the government, paving the way for a national survey on whether such unions should be legalised. / AFP PHOTO / WILLIAM WEST (Photo credit should read WILLIAM WEST/AFP/Getty Images)

The results should be taken with a grain of salt, though: The poll conducted for the right-leaning The Australian, owned by Rupert Murdoch, and suggests Australians are increasingly worried about "religious freedom." Previously surveys have consistently shown more than 60% of Australians back same-sex marriage.

The results for the postal survey will be announced November 15—and while they're not binding, parliament is expected to lift the ban in a matter of weeks should "Yes" votes take the day. But LGBT activists worry a "No" victory—or even a close call—will set the cause back years.

Since the plebiscite was announced, anti-equality forces have come out swinging with homophobic posters, ads and commercials. There have also been reports of ballots being tampered with, dumped, and sold on eBay.

Latest News