Poll says most Floridians reject gay marriages, adoptions.(South Florida Sun-Sentinel)

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. _ While support for gay issues has been increasing nationwide since 1990, the majority of Floridians still do not favor legalizing same-sex marriages or allowing gay couples to adopt, according to a South Florida Sun-Sentinel survey.

Florida law bans gays and lesbians from adopting, whether they are married or single. Gov. Jeb Bush and legislative leaders have said they would not support efforts to change the law. And this new survey does not appear likely to change their minds.

Forty percent of those polled said they would be less likely to vote for a gubernatorial candidate who would want to change the law to allow gay couples to adopt. Fifteen percent said they'd be more likely to vote for someone who supports changing the law. Forty percent said the issue probably wouldn't sway their vote.

"This issue is D.O.A. in Tallahassee based on these results," said Jim Kane of Florida Voter, which conducted the survey of 807 registered Florida voters statewide for the Sun-Sentinel and the Orlando Sentinel.

John Dowless, a political consultant and former head of the Christian Coalition for Florida, agreed.

"Not too many candidates want to go pound the bully pulpit on this particular issue because it's so sensitive," Dowless said. "It becomes an issue of personal feelings of politicians who might know someone or have a friend who is gay vs. political considerations. But groups like the Coalition might use it simply to get their point across, or maybe use it to show legislators or candidates not to run on it."

The poll, conducted June 18-26, was representative of people who voted in the past two elections, Kane said. The average age of those polled was 56.7 years old, most did not have children in school and 79 percent were white. The survey has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.