POLL: The Top 10 Liberal, Conservative States

Gallup has released a list of the Top 10 most conservative and most liberal states in the Union, measured by the percentage of the population who identify as either liberal or conservative. Unsurprisingly, Alabama is considered the most conservative state, with more than half of respondents identifying themselves as "conservative." Tied for second are North Dakota and Wyoming. Just this week, in fact, the Wyoming state Senate rejected any pro-gay legislation that had made it out of committee, even something as basic as including sexual orientation and gender identity in their state's employment discrimination statutes. In fact, none of the 10 most conservative states have employment non-discrimination statutes that include LGBT people.

The list of Top 10 most liberal states is headed by District of Columbia, followed by Massachusetts, Oregon and Vermont. Interestingly, California does not make the Top 10 list, and that even the most liberal jurisdiction does not have a majority of respondents identifying as liberal: 40.8% is the high-water mark. Another feature of the top 10 liberal states is that 6 of the 10 have enacted marriage equality, with the other four (Hawaii, Rhode Island, Delaware and Oregon) on the list of states which are expected to enact marriage equality in the near future, although Hawaii and Oregon have constitutional amendments which declare marriage is between a man and a woman.

Hat/tip to Talking Points Memo