In addition, SSMs were available in California during part of
2008, but the passage of
Proposition 8 by an very slim majority of voters in 2008-NOV terminated new
SSMs. About 20,000 existing same-sex married couples were allowed to continue
being married. A lawsuit is attempting to declare Proposition 8 unconstitutional and to restore access to marriage to loving, committed same-sex couples.
Some jurisdictions limit SSM to residents. Other places, like Canada, also allow both residents and
visitors to marry.
In addition, six states and 6 countries allow same-sex couples to enter into civil unions, domestic partnerships,
or similar arrangements. In the U.S., these couples receive some or all of the rights, privileges,
and obligations that the state gives to married couples. However, they are denied over 1,050 federal benefits that are automatically given to married opposite-sex couples.
This section lists the results of many surveys into the support of, and
opposition to, SSM by American adults. They are grouped by polling agency.
Unfortunately, results are vary significantly on the precise question asked,
the wording of questions asked before the SSM query, the time of day that the subject was
phoned, the type of phone (cell and/or landline), etc. Thus it is not meaningful to group the results by date.
Of particular interest are:
2009-APR: A national Washington Post/ABC poll was the first to find that more American adults supported same-sex marriage (49%) than opposed it (46%).
2010-AUG: The national Fox News/Opinion Dynamics poll was the first major poll to show that most American adults support SSM. Asked whether "gays and lesbians should have a constitutional right to marry..." the results were 52% in favor, 46% opposed; 2% unsure or no response, for a margin of 6%.
2011-MAR-10-13: A Washington Post/ABC News poll reported that 53% of American adults supported same-sex marriage; 44% were opposed. This is a margin of 9 percentage points in favor of SSM!
2011-APR-03: A remarkable survey in New York state -- one of the more liberal states in the U.S. -- showed that 58% of registered voters supported SSM while only 36% were opposed -- a margin of 22 percentage points! Support among Democrats was 65%, Whites: 62%; young voters: 74%; Roman Catholics 59%; and non Judeo-Christians: 78%. Protestants and Republicans were heavily opposed to marriage equality.
2011-MAY-05-08: A national Gallup Inc. poll found essentially the same results as did the earlier Washington Post/ABC News poll: 53% support and 45% opposition. The margin of sampling error is ±4 percentage points.
Trends in support and opposition to same-sex marriage have been similar to the earlier trends for interracial marriage back in the late 20th century. For decades, there was a gradual increase in support and a gradual decrease in opposition. However, for SSM, there seems to have been a significant surge during 2010 and early 2011 in favor of SSM. We speculate that this was due to the extensive debate over the Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy of the military, harrassment of LGBT students, some high-profile suicides by gay students who had been harassed, and a declaration in a Massachusetts federal court that the Defense of Marriage Act is unconstitutional on multiple grounds. Raising the public awareness of the lack of equality for LGBT persons, and the consequences of discrimination and harrassment might have resulted in more adults discussing and studying the treatment of LGBTs, and caused a change in public opinion of SSM.
Topics on same-sex marriage (SSM) covered in this section:
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