Growg Support for Gay Marriage: Changed Mds and Changg Demographics | Pew Rearch Center

Contents:

• GROWG SUPPORT FOR GAY MARRIAGE: CHANGED MDS AND CHANGG DEMOGRAPHICS
• SHOULD GAY MARRIAGE BE LEGAL?
• WHY GAY MARRIAG SHOULD NOT BE LEGALIZED? REARCH PAPER
• SHOULD GAY MARRIAGE BE LEGALIZED?
• SAMPLE REARCH PAPER ON GAY MARRIAGE: LEGALIZE GAY MARRIAGE
• GAY MARRIAGE SHOULD BE LEGAL

GROWG SUPPORT FOR GAY MARRIAGE: CHANGED MDS AND CHANGG DEMOGRAPHICS

Dpe major chang laws and norms surroundg the issue of same-sex marriage and the rights of LGBT people around the world, public opn on the acceptance of homosexualy society remas sharply divid by untry, regn and enomic velopment. For stance, 45% of adults the Silent Generatn (those born between 1928 and 1945) favor allowg gays and lbians to wed, pared wh 74% of Millennials (born between 1981 and 1996).

4As wh the general public, Amerins who intify as lbian, gay, bisexual or transgenr (LGBT) are most likely to ce love as a very important reason for gettg married. Sce then, several other European untri – cludg England and Wal, France, Ireland, all of Sndavia, Spa and, most recently, Atria, Germany and Malta – have legalized gay marriage. In fact, rearchers have found that the majory of lbian, and gay, adults are mted relatnships and many upl have been together 10 or more years.

The fai and iends of lbian and gay upl who are nied marriage rights may also experience negative physil and mental health nsequenc siar to those experienced by their loved on. The vast majory of scientific studi that have directly pared lbian and gay parents wh heterosexual parents have nsistently shown that the same-sex upl are as f and pable parents as heterosexual upl, and that their children are jt as psychologilly healthy and well adjted. A new natnal survey fds that much of the shift is attributable to the arrival of a large hort of young adults – the Millennial generatn – who are far more open to gay rights than prev generatns.

SHOULD GAY MARRIAGE BE LEGAL?

Equally important, however, is that 14% of all Amerins – and 28% of gay marriage supporters – say they have changed their mds on this issue favor of gay marriage. In 2003, as the bate over same-sex marriage tensified and Massachetts beme the first state to allow same-sex marriage, a 56% majory of Amerins felt that allowg gays and lbians to marry would unrme the tradnal Amerin fay, while 39% disagreed. Other trends have shown siar movement sce 2003: The percentage sayg same-sex upl n be as good parents as heterosexual upl has risen 10 pots (to 64%) and there has been a parable crease the percentage sayg that general homosexualy should be accepted, rather than disuraged, by society.

Even among those who oppose allowg gays and lbians to marry legally, a third (33%) say that same-sex upl should have the same legal rights as other upl.

WHY GAY MARRIAG SHOULD NOT BE LEGALIZED? REARCH PAPER

The partisan and mographic differenc opns about societal acceptance of homosexualy are mirrored attus related to same-sex marriage, cludg whether would nflict wh people’s relig beliefs and unrme the tradnal fay.

Generatnal differenc about homosexualy largely mirror attus about same-sex marriage, wh about three-quarters of Millennials (75%) and 62% of Gen Xers now sayg homosexualy should be accepted.

SHOULD GAY MARRIAGE BE LEGALIZED?

While about two-thirds of both Democrats (66%) and pennts (65%) now say homosexualy should be accepted, reflectg signifint shifts towards greater acceptance among the groups, Republin attus are largely unchanged om 2003 (38% of Republins say homosexualy should be accepted, 54% say should be disuraged). Notably, whe male Prottants are the only relig group that has changed substantially on this qutn: In 2003 a 58% majory said gay marriage would go agast their relig beliefs; jt 44% say this today. And the growth support for same-sex marriage among male Prottants over this time is also substantial: Today 55% favor allowg gays and lbians to marry, up om 36% 10 years ago.

SAMPLE REARCH PAPER ON GAY MARRIAGE: LEGALIZE GAY MARRIAGE

In 2003, a 56% majory of Amerins agreed wh the statement: “allowg gays and lbians to legally marry would unrme the tradnal Amerin fay;” today 46% say this. As wh other attus about LGBT (Lbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgenr) people, younger generatns rema substantially more acceptg—and have grown more so over time. Although majori across all tnal groups say gay and lbian upl should be entled to the same rights, support for this posn creas wh tn: 76% of llege graduat agree wh the statement, pared wh 69% of those wh some llege experience and 58% of those who have not attend llege.

A Washgton Post/ABC News survey, nducted March 7-10, asks a different qutn: “Do you thk should be legal or illegal for gay and lbian upl to get married?

US public opn had shifted signifintly over the years, om 27% approval of gay marriage 1996 to 55% 2015, the year beme legal throughout the Uned Stat, to 61% 2019. Proponents of legal gay marriage ntend that gay marriage bans are discrimatory and unnstutnal, and that same-sex upl should have accs to all the benefs enjoyed by different-sex upl.

GAY MARRIAGE SHOULD BE LEGAL

On July 25, 2014 Miami-Da County Circu Court Judge Sarah Zabel led Florida’s gay marriage ban unnstutnal and stated that the ban “serv only to hurt, to discrimate, to prive same-sex upl and their fai of equal digny, to label and treat them as send-class cizens, and to em them unworthy of participatn one of the fundamental stutns of our society. The Amerin Psychologil Associatn, Amerin Psychiatric Associatn, and others nclud that legal gay marriage giv upl “accs to the social support that already facilat and strengthens heterosexual marriag, wh all of the psychologil and physil health benefs associated wh that support.

A study found that same-sex married upl were “signifintly ls distrsed than lbian, gay, and bisexual persons not a legally regnized relatnship. A 2010 analysis found that after their stat had banned gay marriage, gay, lbian and bisexual people suffered a 37% crease mood disorrs, a 42% crease alhol-e disorrs, and a 248% crease generalized anxiety disorrs.