According to a new survey from the Pew Research Center, 72% of Americans believe you can’t stop the same-sex marriage beat. 85% of that number identified as gay marriage supporters and 59% as opponents.
Interestingly, Republicans (73%), Democrats (72%) and Independents (74%) all seem to agree equally on the inevitability of legalization.
The survey was conducted at the beginning of May among 1,504 adults in the U.S. For the first time in Pew polling, just over half (51%) of Americans favor allowing gay men and lesbians to marry legally, though 42% remain opposed. Also, more people know someone who is gay or lesbian, which impacts their perception of marriage equality:
Nearly nine-in-ten Americans (87%) personally know someone who is gay or lesbian (up from 61% in 1993). About half (49%) say a close family member or one of their closest friends is gay or lesbian. About a quarter (23%) say they know a lot of people who are gay or lesbian, and 31% know a gay or lesbian person who is raising children. The link between these experiences and attitudes about homosexuality is strong. For example, roughly two-thirds (68%) of those who know a lot of people who are gay or lesbian favor gay marriage, compared with just 32% of those who don’t know anyone.
While attitudes continue to change, opposition to homosexuality and same-sex marriage still very much exists. 45% of Americans polled believed engaging in homosexual behavior is a sin, while 40% reported they would be upset if their child came out to them as gay; 19% said they’d be very upset. Those numbers aren’t so bad compared to a 2004 poll by the Los Angles Times, in which 60% of Americans said they’d be upset and 30% said they’d be very upset if their child was gay.
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Ken
Someone said he didn’t approve of gay marriage. I said, “If two people are getting married, and you aren’t one of the people, and you aren’t performing the ceremony, it’s none of your business.” Same-sex marriage should be a big yawn to anyone who minds his own business.
1EqualityUSA
Equality is inevitable. NOM-skulls detest this sentence.
Andreusz
“85% of that number identified as gay marriage supporters and 59% as opponents.”
How did the other 63% identify themselves?