Support for Legal Same-Sex Marriage Increases in Britain
If a referendum took place, younger respondents would be the most likely to vote in favour of legal same-sex marriage.
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(09/18/12) -
The proportion of people in Britain who are in favour of allowing same-sex marriage in their country has increased since earlier this year, a new Angus Reid Public Opinion poll has found.
In the online survey of a representative national sample of 2,005 British adults, 46 per cent of respondents (+3 since a similar survey conducted in January) think same-sex couples should be allowed to legally marry.
A third of Britons (33%) would allow same-sex couples to form civil partnerships, but not marry, while only 14 per cent believe same-sex couples should not have any kind of legal recognition
Several U.S. states have held referendums on the definition of marriage. If a referendum with only two choices were to take place in the UK, respondents would be evenly divided. While 43 per cent of Britons would define marriage as between a man and a woman, a further 43 per cent would opt to define marriage as between two people.
Half of respondents (50%) say they have close friends or relatives who are openly gay or lesbian. One-in-four Britons (25%) believe people choose to be gay, while more than half (53%) think they are born gay.
Respondents aged 18-to-34 offer the highest level of support for legal same-sex marriage (63%, compared to 49% for those aged 35-to-54 and 30% for those over the age of 55). Younger Britons would also clearly vote to define marriage as between two people (57%) if a U.S.-style referendum were to take place in the UK.
Download Full Methodology Statement
Full Report, Detailed Tables and Methodology (PDF)
CONTACT:
Mario Canseco, Vice President, Angus Reid Public Opinion
+877 730 3570
mario.canseco@angus-reid.com
Methodology: From August 22 to August 23, 2012, Angus Reid Public Opinion conducted an online survey among 2,005 randomly selected British adults who are Springboard UK panelists. The margin of error—which measures sampling variability—is +/- 2.2%. The results have been statistically weighted according to the most current education, age, gender and region data to ensure samples representative of the entire adult population of Great Britain. Discrepancies in or between totals are due to rounding.
