Polls & Research

Americans Split Over Same-Sex Civil Unions

(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - Adults in the United States are divided on whether to allow a form of legal recognition to gay and lesbian partnerships, according to a poll by Knowledge Networks released by the Associated Press and Yahoo. 40 per cent of respondents oppose giving same-sex couples the same rights and benefits that opposite-sex couples get from the federal government, while 34 per cent support the notion.

In addition, 40 per cent of respondents would amend the U.S. Constitution to define marriage as being between a man and a woman—thus barring marriages between gay or lesbian couples—while 33 per cent disagree.

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, the first state-sanctioned homosexual weddings in the U.S.

Civil union and domestic partnership laws in Vermont, Connecticut, California 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 the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Maine, New Hampshire and Washington State. There are more than 1,000 federal-level rights of marriage that cannot be granted by states.

Earlier this month, U.S. district judge Michael W. Mosman suspended a law that would have allowed same-sex couples in Oregon to receive some spousal rights, including visitation and inheritance rights, and joint health, vehicle and homeowners insurance policies. The law was supposed to take effect tomorrow.

Same-sex marriage is currently legal in the Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, Canada and South Africa, and at least 18 countries offer some form of legal recognition to same-sex unions.

Polling Data

Do you favour or oppose each of the following?

	Favour	Neither	Oppose
Giving gay and lesbian couples the same rights and benefits that opposite-sex couples get from the federal government	34%	25%	40%
Amending the U.S. Constitution to define marriage as being between a man and a woman, thus barring marriages between gay or lesbian couples	40%	26%	33%

Source: Knowledge Networks / Associated Press / Yahoo
Methodology: Online interviews with 1,821 American adults, conducted from Dec. 14 to Dec. 20, 2007. Margin of error is 2.3 per cent.