One in five surveyed changed their view on same-sex marriage in the last few years. Poll: Plurality supports gay marriage

A plurality of Americans supports gay marriage.

A new POLITICO/George Washington University Battleground Poll found 40 percent of those surveyed said that same-sex couples should be able to be legally married. Thirty percent thought same-sex couples should be able to enter into civil unions but not be allowed to get married. And 24 percent said they should not be allowed to have any type of legal union.


The poll of 1,000 likely voters was conducted Dec. 2-6, just before the U.S. Supreme Court’s Friday announcement that the justices will consider two same-sex marriage cases.

One in five surveyed admitted to changing their view on same-sex marriage in the last few years, as President Barack Obama said he did earlier this year.

Nearly half, 48 percent, approved of Obama’s handling of the gay marriage issue. Seventy-one percent of Democrats approve, and 65 percent of Republicans disapproved. Independents approved the president’s handling by a 16-percentage-point margin, 50 percent to 34 percent.

The generational gap on the gay marriage question persists. Younger people, who tend to view this as a civil rights issue, overwhelmingly supported gay marriage. A full 63 percent of 18-to-29-year-olds backed marriage, and only 14 percent wanted no legal unions for gay couples. It dropped off to 36 percent support among both 30-to-44-year-olds and 45-to-59-year-olds.

Only three in 10 seniors supported gay marriage. Another three in 10 supported civil unions. And 28 percent wanted no legal unions.

Predictably, the country divided along political party lines. Among Republicans, 40 supported percent civil unions and 37 percent didn’t support any legal unions. Just 17 percent of the GOP accepted legal marriage. Among Democrats, 60 percent supported legal marriage and 19 percent backed civil unions. This left 16 percent opposing legal recognition.

Self-identified independents tracked with the electorate overall: 42 percent supported legal marriage, 32 percent preferred civil unions and 18 percent wanted no unions.

Just over half of those who attend church infrequently supported gay marriage. Only 18 percent of those who attend services at least once a week did.

Roman Catholics are significantly more supportive of full marriage for gays, 42 percent, than Baptists and evangelicals, 18 percent. Among mainline Protestants, 35 percent supported gay marriage, 31 backed civil unions and 27 percent wanted no recognition.

Those with higher levels of education were less likely to oppose legal unions for gay couples. Thirty percent who attained only a high school diploma opposed any recognition, compared to 18 percent of those who graduated college.

African-Americans appeared slightly more polarized than the nation overall. Forty-three percent want full marriage, compared to 29 percent who opposed any legal recognition. They were slightly less likely to support the in-between civil union option, although the margin of error is higher because the sample is smaller.

Regionally, there was narrow majority support for gay marriage in the West and Central Plains.

While 44 percent of women supported full gay marriage, only 35 percent of men did.

While 55 percent of single people surveyed backed full gay marriage, only 34 percent of those who are currently married did.

The POLITICO/George Washington University Battleground poll, conducted by the Tarrance Group and Lake Research Partners, surveyed 1,000 registered likely voters from Dec. 2-6 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.

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Gay Marriage