A Stable Majority: Most Americans Still Oppose Same-Sex Marriage

Special Report: The Same-Sex Marriage Debate

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Map: State Policies on Same-Sex Marriage (Stateline.org)

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Same-Sex Marriage Candidate Comparison

Same-Sex Marriage in California

Redefining Marriage Around the World

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April 1, 2008

In the time since the Massachusetts high court declared the state’s ban on gay marriage unconstitutional in 2003, public opinion on the issue has remained relatively stable. Indeed, majorities of Americans have consistently opposed legalizing same-sex marriage – from 53% opposed in a summer 2003 survey conducted by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life and the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press, to 55% opposed in an August 2007 Pew survey. The 2007 poll found 36% of the public in favor of allowing gay and lesbian couples to wed, about the same as in 2003. (See An Overview of the Same-Sex Marriage Debate.)

As with many other social issues, opinions about same-sex marriage are closely linked with partisanship, ideology and religion. For instance, opposition to gay marriage is lowest among self-described liberal Democrats (26%) and highest among conservative Republicans (83%), with other ideological and partisan groups falling in between. Those who identify themselves as independents are roughly divided on the issue, with 49% opposed to same-sex marriage and 41% in favor of it.

Religion also plays an important role in determining the public’s views on the issue. Those who attend worship services once a week or more are much more likely to oppose same-sex marriage (73%) than those who attend less often (43% opposed). Opinion also varies quite dramatically across religions. About eight-in-ten evangelicals (81% of white evangelicals and 79% of black evangelicals) oppose gay marriage, while Catholics and mainline Protestants are much more divided on the issue. Indeed, the proportion of white, non-Hispanic Catholics and white mainline Protestants who oppose gay marriage (49% and 47%, respectively) is significantly smaller than among the population as a whole (55%). Hispanic Catholics’ opposition to gay marriage is similar – at 52%. (Compare public opinion with religious groups’ official positions on gay marriage.)

Age is another demographic characteristic that affects attitudes on this issue. Opposition to gay marriage is most pronounced among older Americans, with more than two-thirds (67%) of those age 65 and older opposed to legalizing same-sex marriage. On the other hand, roughly half of all adults under age 30 (49%) favor allowing gay and lesbian couples to wed.

While a majority of Americans oppose gay marriage, a similar majority supports civil unions (which grant gay couples most of the legal rights of marriage without the title of marriage), by a 54% to 42% margin, according to a Pew poll from August 2006.

Even opponents of gay marriage are divided on whether it would be a good idea to amend the U.S. Constitution to ban same-sex marriage. When asked in the 2006 Pew survey whether a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage is a good idea or a bad idea, only about half of those who oppose gay marriage said it is a good idea.