How the Public Feels About Gays, Marriage
Tue Feb 24, 6:53 PM ET Add U.S. National - AP to My Yahoo!
By The Associated Press
Some recent polls have examined how the public feels about homosexuality, gay marriage, civil unions and efforts to ban gay marriage. Among their findings:
_Americans are closely divided on whether homosexual relations between adults should be legal.
_A majority of Americans, sometimes by as much as a 2-1 margin, say they oppose legalizing gay marriage.
_Americans are divided on whether homosexual couples should be allowed to form legally recognized civil unions, with slightly more people opposing it.
_People are evenly divided on the question of a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage — an attitude that has shifted in the last month from majority opposition to an amendment toward an even split on that question.
A month ago, when people were given the option of a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage or letting states make their own laws, almost six in 10 favored letting states deal with the issue, while almost four in 10 favored a constitutional amendment. In results released Tuesday, they were closely divided on that issue.
The results on homosexual relations come from a January CNN-USA Today-Gallup poll, the results on gay marriage come from the National Annenberg Election Survey out Tuesday and the results on civil unions and a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage come from an ABC News-Washington Post poll. The new results on the constitutional amendment were released Tuesday.
