FreakMonster said:
America will never accept this alternative lifestyle.
U.S. poll: Views shift toward gay marriage
David Ryan Alexander
A new poll conducted by the Pew Research Center for the People and the
Press shows overall increased support for gay marriage compared with a
similar study released in 1996.
In the survey, 38 percent of respondents said they supported gay marriage,
up from 27 percent in 1996. The poll also showed a decline in opposition to gay
marriage, from 65 percent of respondents who opposed same-sex marriage
rights in 1996, to a current 53 percent.
"The Gallup Poll released in May showed the same trend," said David Smith,
communications director for the Human Rights Campaign. "The reason for
that is more families are coming out and identifying themselves, and
America is able to see gay families. The census shows gay families are living
in every corner of every county in this country, and that's having a profound
effect on public opinion."
The Pew report, which focused on the role of religion in politics, found that
white mainline Protestants and white Roman Catholics became significantly
more accepting of gay marriage.
"But notably," the report stated, "the shift in favor of gay marriage is seen in
nearly every segment of society with two significant exceptions -- white
evangelical Protestants and African-Americans. While a higher percentage
of white evangelicals (83 percent) than blacks (64 percent) oppose legalizing
gay marriages, neither group has changed its views significantly since
1996."
The survey was conducted nationwide of 2,002 adults from June 24 to July 8.
The margin of error was 2.5 percentage points.
A separate USA Today/CNN/Gallup Poll released on June 30 also showed
similar results, with 39 percent responding in favor of same-sex marriage,
an increase from 27 percent in another similar survey in 1996. That survey
also showed 55 percent of respondents were opposed to same-sex marriage, a
decrease from 68 percent in 1996.