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POLL: African-American Marylanders Would Uphold Marriage Equality Law | A new Public Policy Polling poll has found that 55 percent of Maryland’s African-American community would vote to maintain the state’s new marriage equality law if it’s challenged at the ballot in November. They join a 57 percent of all Maryland voters who support the law, up from 52 percent in March. An ABC/Washington Post poll yesterday found that 59 percent of African-Americans nationwide back marriage equality, a rate higher than the national average. Anti-gay groups like the National Organization for Marriage have been fervently trying to drive a wedge between blacks and gays by highlighting black religious leaders who oppose marriage equality, but the narrative they’re spinning simply doesn’t reflect reality.

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POLL: Pennsylvania African Americans Support Marriage Equality | A new Public Policy Polling survey shows that African American support for marriage equality has increased dramatically in Pennsylvania. Just last November, the African-American community opposed same-sex marriage with only 34 percent in favor and 52 percent against. Now, in the wake of President Obama’s support on the issue, the polling has shifted to a 42 percent plurality in favor with 41 percent opposed, a 19-point shift. In general, Pennsylvanians are not as supportive, with only 39 percent in favor and 48 percent opposed, but it seems African Americans are leading the momentum toward the inevitability of nationwide marriage equality. As PPP President Dean Debnam points out, “The media’s been asking the wrong question — the big issue isn’t how Obama’s stance will affect his reelection hopes. It’s how Obama’s stance will move public opinion on gay marriage.”

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POLL: African American Support For Marriage Equality Is Higher Than General Population | A new ABC News/Washington Post poll finds support for marriage equality remaining consistent at 53 percent, with a growing number of African Americans backing the freedom to marry. Fifty-nine percent of black respondents said they want to legalize same-sex marriage and 65 percent favor President Obama’s position on the issue. For the first time, the number of Americans who “strongly” support marriage also (39 percent) outweighs the number who “strongly” oppose it (32 percent).

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POLL: 54 Percent Support Legalizing Marriage Equality | A new NBC/WSJ finds that 54 percent would support a law in their state legalizing same-sex marriage, while only 40 percent would oppose such a measure. Polls have consistently shown over the past two years that a majority of Americans favor the freedom to marry, and these results confirm that strong momentum. The poll also assessed the fallout from President Obama’s endorsement of marriage equality and found that it was ultimately a wash. This too signifies incredible progress since 2004, when same-sex marriage was used as a wedge issue to mobilize conservatives.

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POLL: Strong Majority Of New Hampshire Voters Support Marriage Equality | A new Public Policy Polling survey shows that support for marriage equality remains very strong in New Hampshire, with 57 percent believing it should be legal and only 35 percent opposed. Even when presented with the choice to form civil unions, support for marriage was still 54 percent, with 31 percent support for civil unions, and only 13 percent opposed to any legal recognition. Earlier this year, there was a strong conservative push to repeal the state’s same-sex marriage law in the legislature, but it failed spectacularly.

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POLL: Marriage Equality Support Remains Strong In New Jersey | A new Quinnipieac poll finds that 53 percent of New Jersey voters would support a marriage equality law with 52 percent opposed. Though support dipped when respondents were giving the additional choice of civil unions — which New Jersey already has — 48 percent still supported marriage equality compared to a combined 47 percent who support civil unions or nothing. A strong majority of 67 percent still welcomes the opportunity to vote on same-sex marriage at the ballot, but support for Gov. Chris Christie’s (R) veto of marriage equality legislation declined from 48 percent to 44 percent since March. Reactions to President Obama’s support for marriage equality were split, with Republicans and older voters becoming less likely to vote for him and Democrats and younger voters becoming more likely to vote for him.

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POLL: Voters Favor Obama For Marriage Equality, Disapprove Of Romney’s Bullying | A new Ipsos poll (PDF) compares how voters reacted to President Obama’s support of marriage equality versus how they responded to reports that Mitt Romney bullied gay kids in high school. According to the results, 28 percent (including 46 percent of Democrats) felt less favorable toward Mitt Romney, with only 5 percent favoring him more for being a bully. Most Republicans (83 percent) said it had no impact on their opinion of the candidate. On marriage, Obama broke even, gaining 31 percent favor (including 53 percent of Democrats) and losing 30 percent favor (including 56 percent of Republicans). The poll seems to suggest that conservatives are coldly indifferent to the struggles of the LGBT community, yet strongly oppose the advance of equality.

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POLL: 54 Percent Of African-Americans Agree With Obama On Marriage | The National Organization for Marriage’s confidential memos leaked earlier this year showed a concerted effort by conservatives to drive a wedge between gays and people of color, but a new poll shows just how unrealistic their narrative is. A new ABC News/Washington Post poll finds that 54 percent of African-Americans join President Obama in supporting marriage equality with only 37 percent opposed, numbers comparable to national averages. While groups like NOM attempt to showcase anti-gay leaders from the Church of God in Christ as spokespeople for the black community, it’s more clear than ever that they do not speak for their racial community any more than any other conservative talking heads.

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POLL: PTSD Tops Military Families’ Concerns | For the first time, post-traumatic stress disorder tops the list of military families’ concerns, according to a poll conducted by non-profit advocates. The survey by Blue Star Families prioritizes military families areas of concern. Also on the list were the stress put on children by long deployments of their parents, civilian-military divide and a sense that most Americans don’t understand the sacrifices made by service-members. But Stephanie Himel-Nelson, a spokesperson for the group, said the results about post-traumatic stress disorder were “most surprising’: “Post-traumatic stress has never been in the Top 5 [concerns] before.” In a related study, Blue Star Families found that nearly two-thirds of those who report post-traumatic stress didn’t pursue avenues of treatment available through the military.