(01/05/09) -

American Majority Opposes Same-Sex Marriage

(Angus Reid Global Monitor) – Many adults in the United States are against same-sex marriage, according to a poll by Opinion Research Corporation released by CNN. 55 per cent of respondents think marriages between gay and lesbian couples should not be recognized by the law as valid.

(Angus Reid Global Monitor) – Many adults in the United States are against same-sex marriage, according to a poll by Opinion Research Corporation released by CNN. 55 per cent of respondents think marriages between gay and lesbian couples should not be recognized by the law as valid.

In 2004, marriage certificates were issued to same-sex couples by local governments in the states of California, Oregon, New Mexico and New York. In May 2004, the state of Massachusetts allowed gay and lesbian partners to apply for marriage licenses. In May 2008, California’s Supreme Court overturned a ban on same-sex marriage in a 4-3 decision, effectively allowing full marriage rights to homosexual partners.

Civil union and domestic partnership laws in Vermont, Connecticut and New Jersey grant same-sex couples all state-level rights and obligations of marriage—in areas such as inheritance, income tax, insurance and hospital visitation. Other forms of domestic partnership exist in California, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, New Hampshire, Oregon and Washington State. There are more than 1,000 federal-level rights of marriage that cannot be granted by states.

Same-sex marriage is currently legal in the Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, Canada, South Africa and Norway. At least 21 countries offer some form of legal recognition to same-sex unions.

In November 2008, 52.5 per cent of voters in California endorsed Proposition 8, which seeks to amend the state Constitution to define marriage as only between a man and a woman.

Last month, Democratic New Hampshire representative Jim Splaine introduced a bill, which seeks to amend the state’s existing civil union legislation to allow gay and lesbian couples to marry. Splaine explained his rationale, saying, "The bill would essentially provide for full marriage equality. I submitted the bill because I think it’s important that we keep this dialogue going."

Polling Data

Do you think marriages between gay and lesbian couples should or should not be recognized by the law as valid, with the same rights as traditional marriages?

Source: Opinion Research Corporation / CNN
Methodology: Telephone interviews with 1,013 American adults, conducted from Dec. 19 to Dec. 21, 2008. Margin of error is 3 per cent.