Public Opinion on Gay Marriage: Opponents Consistently Outnumber Supporters

Since 1996, when the Pew Research Center began polling on the issue, opponents of legalizing same-sex marriage have consistently outnumbered supporters, although by varying margins at different points in time. For instance, in 2004, just months after Massachusetts became the first state to allow gay marriage, a joint survey by the Pew Research Center's Forum on Religion & Public Life and the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press found that about twice as many Americans opposed legalizing same-sex marriage (60%) as supported it (29%). More recently, an April 2009 survey by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press found that opposition to legalizing same-sex marriage stood at 54%, with 35% supporting the right of gays and lesbians to wed.

Read the full report Public Opinion on Gay Marriage: Opponents Consistently Outnumber Supporters on the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life's Web site.